Torn
by allyxocorbin
Summary: Wildcat and Waterbug met as counselors at a summer camp, but didn't get a chance to say goodbye or exchange names. Now Waterbug is at East High & Wildcat has a girlfriend. Troyella, Chaylor and minor Troypay
1. Trailer

Note: My first attempt at a Troyella... I'm not one to sing their praises, but I got the idea for this story and deep down I knew it had to be a Troyella. But hey... there is plenty of Chaylor, too...

Wildcat and Waterbug were both counselors at a summer camp in north eastern New Mexico during the summer before their senior year of high school.

For Troy "Wildcat" Bolton, the summer at camp served as a way to get away from his parents and friends and just relax.

For Gabriella "Waterbug" Montez, the summer was an easier way for her to transition to her 5th new high school in 6 semesters...or so her mother says.

Wildcat and Waterbug had something magic happen between them at camp, but because of an emergency she has to leave before they can exchange their real names.

Wildcat returns to East High to find something strange has happened-his best friend Chad Danforth is dating smart girl Taylor McKessie and refuses to tell Troy how the heck the two of them got together. Then there's his girlfriend Sharpay Evans... who-his friends love to remind him-he said he was going to break up with before summer.

Waterbug ends up at East High, too and they keep missing each other.

What happens when their paths finally cross... will it be a happy ending or a disaster?


	2. Prologue

So I decided that I couldn't wait any longer for you guys to start reading my new story. Up until yesterday the first thing you guys were going to read what Chapter 1... but after looking at the first chapter I realized something was missing and thus the prologue came and now I think it'll make the story as a whole better.

I want to thank everyone who story alerted this and I hope you guys like the prologue! I can't wait to see what you guys think :-D

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**Prologue**

Waterbug laughed as she watched Wildcat spinning around in the rain. The summer rain storm had sent everybody into the mess hall for a day of indoor games, but Wildcat-the outdoor activities director-had stayed outside.

"You're crazy Wildcat." She watched from her spot underneath the covered porch of the staff house.

"Join me." He stopped spinning and his blue eyes met hers with a look of sincerity.

"It's almost dinner, Wildcat. We'll be soaked."

"So? Unless you're a waterbug that doesn't like water…"

She cautiously took a step into the rain and pushed her hair back out of her face as the rain pounded down on her. He smiled and held out his hand to her. She took it and squealed with laughter when he spun her into his arms so they were standing eye to eye. He made the first move and their lips crashed against each other for the first time.

The sound of the dinner bell ringing broke them apart and he groaned as he pressed his forehead against hers.

"Meet me here at midnight."

She nodded and they hurried to the mess hall holding hands. They dropped each others hands before they entered the mess hall, she went to sit with a group of female campers that had requested her to sit with them at dinner while he went to sit with a group of male campers.

They met that night and every night after that at midnight, often spending their time alone together in the boat house. On the eve of her birthday, he took her out for a moonlit canoe ride and they made love in the middle of the man-made lake.

They weren't as sly as they thought they were being and soon everybody at the camp knew that they were dating. The young girl campers thought the relationship was romantic while the boys gave Wildcat a look of disgust whenever he was seen talking to Waterbug.

It was camp policy to only go by your chosen camp name and Wildcat and Waterbug had decided to follow camp rules and wait until the last day of camp to reveal their real names. They took it one step farther and didn't tell each other where they were from either.

The last day of camp came sooner for Waterbug then everyone else when news of an emergency back home came in the wee hours of the morning. She was gone-without saying goodbye to anyone-before the sun was up.

Wildcat had been devastated that she hadn't even left a note saying goodbye. So when a letter arrived from her during the final week of camp, he used it to start a bonfire for their final campfire instead of reading it. He knew he would never see her again and didn't want to know who she really was. She would always be _his_ Waterbug.


	3. Chapter 1

So it's only been a few days since I posted the first chapter and after a busy weekend (that sadly, didn't include any writing) I'm ready to post the next chapter of the story for you guys to read.

I'm trying a new thing with this story where I'm not using replied, said, asked, etc. but at the same time I want it to be clear to you guys who is talking in the story so I've tried to add action statements following quotes that could be confusing, but you guys will have to let me know.

Anyway thanks to starBURST-xo and lilmissmonique for reviewing the prologue. :-D

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**Chapter 1**

Today was the day he had been dreaming about since the sixth grade. Today he was officially a senior at East High. Today was the first-

"Yo! Troy!"

Troy Bolton blinked and found his best friend Chad Danforth standing in front of him with his ever present basketball attached to his hip.

"Hey."

The two friends fell in step with one another and headed for their lockers.

"Can you believe we're _finally_ seniors?" The grin that appeared on Chad's face quickly spread to Troy's. "This is our turf now, man, we rule this school."

"Ahem."

Troy and Chad stopped walking and turned around to find brainiac Taylor McKessie standing behind them.

"Hey baby."

Troy shook his head as Chad wrapped his arms around the beautiful African-American. He left his friend to flirt with his girlfriend and continued onto his locker. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that his best friend and his lady love were making googly eyes at each other.

Troy still didn't know how Chad had even gotten together with the likes of Taylor McKessie. His jaw had dropped when Chad told him that he and Taylor were a couple and even now he still couldn't believe it. Something strange must have happened in Albuquerque while he had been gone for the summer.

"At least somebody's summer romance lasted." Troy shook off the feeling of jealousy that threatened to take over and turned back to his locker. He had to get over the Latin beauty who had-

"TROY!"

Troy flinched at the sound of his girlfriend's high pitched squeal. He shoved his bag into his locker and closed it as she came flying down the hall and launched herself into his arms, nearly sending both of them to the ground.

"Troy, I missed you so much." She held onto him tightly. "I almost died without you this summer."

"Yeah same here." He lowered her back to the ground then took a step back from her-taking in her bright pink outfit and unnaturally tanned skin. "You look… tan, Shar."

She smiled brightly before launching into a tale about her summer in Europe with her parents and twin brother Ryan. Five words in, Troy was sure he'd already heard this story, but he forced a smile on his face all the while praying to God that Chad would stop staring into Taylor's eyes and realize he was having a Sharpay emergency. He didn't and Troy found himself being pulled down the hallway by Sharpay.

--

Today was the day she had been dreading for weeks. Today was just like every first day at a new school. Today was-

"Miss Montez."

Gabriella Montez looked up and saw Principal Matsui standing by his office with a woman who appeared to be in her mid to late-fifties.

"Miss Montez, this is Ms. Darbus, she will be your homeroom teacher this year."

Gabriella gave Ms. Darbus a small wave before shoving her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

"Well come along, dear, and I'll introduce you to one of your classmates."

Gabriella followed the flamboyant teacher out of the office and down the hall. Then she nearly ran into the teacher when she stopped suddenly.

"Excuse me for a moment."

Gabriella watched as she marched over to an African-American couple who were standing in the middle of the hall making out.

"Mr. Danforth, it is the first day of school, must I remind you of the school's policy on- Miss McKessie?!"

"Uh, hi, Ms. Darbus." The African-American girl tucked a piece of hair behind her ears as her boyfriend stood behind her grinning.

"I- I don't know what to say."

The boy snickered into his hand at the teacher's loss for words.

"But never the less, don't let me catch you two doing that again otherwise it will be detention for the both of you."

The girl shot a look at her boyfriend and he stopped laughing.

"Now, Miss McKessie, I would like to introduce you to East High's newest student and I hope you'll show her around."

Gabriella walked over and came to a stop beside Ms. Darbus.

"I'll leave you all to get to know one another, just be in time for class."

Gabriella watched the teacher walk away before she turned her eyes to the couple in front of her.

"Don't let Ms. Darbus scare you, she's a little exuberant. I'm Taylor McKessie, by the way, and this is my boyfriend, Chad Danforth."

"Nice to meet you both, I'm Gabriella Montez."

"Tay, I see the guys so I'm going to go talk to them."

Taylor rolled her eyes as her boyfriend ran off.

"Don't mind him, I'm still working on his manners."

"It's fine."

"So, what does your schedule look like?"

Gabriella handed Taylor her schedule and stood quietly as the African-American girl scanned it.

"Wow. I'm impressed, AP Physics, Spanish 4, Calculus and AP English. Your schedule revivals my own."

Gabriella simply smiled, though her smile wavered on the line between security and insecurity.

"Oh girl, that's a good thing. East High is full of jocks and we can always use another brainiac around here."

Both girls looked up when they heard the bell ring. Taylor clapped her hands and smiled before she took Gabriella's hand and led her new friend to Ms. Darbus' classroom. Upon reaching the classroom, they found Taylor's boyfriend sitting with a couple of guys.

"Hey guys, this is Gabriella Montez. Gabriella these are Chad's friends Zeke Baylor and Jason Cross."

Gabriella said hello to both guys before she sat down in the chair behind Taylor. She sat quietly as the classroom filled up and her classmates talked amongst themselves.

"Good morning people."

The class quieted as Ms. Darbus took her place at the front of the classroom.

"I hope you all had a great summer vacation and have taken a moment to meet our new student, Gabriella Montez."

Gabriella made a small wave before she sunk into her seat. She hated being the center of attention.

After launching into a speech about cell phone use in school, Ms. Darbus picked up a clipboard and started calling out names.

"Mr. Danforth, where is your friend?"

"I'm not sure, your honor ma'am." Chad glanced at Taylor.

Ms. Darbus hmped before she moved on with the names. Chad looked back at his friends and they shrugged.

"And Mr. Evans, where is your sister?"

"I'm not sure, Ms. Darbus."

"Bet she's with Troy." The boys in the back row started to snicker.

Ms. Darbus glared at the boys over her glasses before continuing to call role.

Chad felt a tap on his shoulder watched as a note fell into his lap. He kept his eyes on Ms. Darbus as he quietly unfolded the note to read it.

_I thought Troy was breaking up with Sharpay._

He replied to the message with a simple "I did too" before he dropped it on the ground behind him for his friend to pick up.


	4. Chapter 2

Hey!! I want to give a quick thanks to everyone who story alerted this story (there were like 9 of you) and extra special thanks goes to lilmissmonique, maurie1297, liv3.in.lov3 and naughtycate for reviewing the last chapter :-D I was going to wait until I had written another chapter of this story to post this one, but seeing as school starts tomorrow I decided to go ahead and post this. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to get another chapter out to you guys quickly... but we'll see. And if anybody is curious as to how long this story will be, right now I'm planning about 10 chapters... but if you've read any of my stuff before you know that my projected planning doesn't always work too well hahaha But this story will be more of Group Date's size rather than Against the Odds...

But anyway, read the chapter, review the chapter and if you really like it recommend it to your friends ;)

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**Chapter 2 **

Chad shook his head as he entered the locker room and found Troy changing for gym.

"We missed you in homeroom, _captain_."

Troy grinned sheepishly before shrugging.

"I thought you were going to break up with Sharpay."

Troy sighed and nodded. "I am, I swear."

"How many times are you going to say that before you actually do it?"

Troy watched as his best friend walked off. Chad was right, he had been saying he was going to break things off with Sharpay since before school had let out for the summer and now 4 months later, he was still with her. What Chad didn't realize was that it was impossible to get a word in when he was with Sharpay-when they were actually talked-as she dominated the conversation. He wondered what his friend would say if he knew about the girl he had met during the summer-the one he had cheated on Sharpay with.

Shaking his head, Troy headed to the gym but froze when he found his dad Coach Bolton blocking the entrance to the gym with his arms crossed.

"I know what you're going to say."

"It's the first day, Troy, and you couldn't even manage to get to homeroom?"

"Sorry, dad."

"You're the one that will be sorry when you're stuck in detention all day tomorrow."

"_All _day? What?"

"The school has become stricter when it comes to skipping, Troy, and it looks like you're going to be the example of what happens to students who skip."

"_Great_."

"Keep in mind that this team has a three detention and you're out policy when you debate whether or not to go to homeroom from now on."

The next morning, Troy reported directly to the detention room, he didn't want to give Sharpay a chance to drag him off to a janitor's closet like she had done the morning before. Not that he had objected when they were in the closet-the girl had mad skills when it came to kissing and using her tongue in general. Though, she didn't have anything over-

"Troy!"

He cringed when he heard her squeal as she came in the door. She practically skipped over to him and gave him a long drawn out kiss before sliding into the seat next to him.

"I hope we're the only ones in here today, because I heard that Miss Pratt leaves the room to go watch TV in the teachers' lounge."

Troy forced a smile on his face as he turned his attention to the door, praying that somebody else would have detention with them. His heart quickened when he saw the door open, but rolled his eyes when he saw Chad poke his head in the room.

"Hey! I was looking for you."

"You found me."

His curly haired friend studied his face before he walked over and knelt by Troy's chair.

"Do you need me to stay in here with you?"

Troy glanced at Sharpay and shook his head.

"You sure?"

Troy nodded again.

"Alright, text me if you need me. You know if things get a little-"

"Mr. Danforth, I don't see your name on the detention list, but I can add it if you'd like."

Chad and Troy looked up to see Miss Pratt standing in the doorway.

"No, your honor ma'am, I was just collecting Troy's homework, you see, so he could turn it in without getting points marked off."

Troy ripped a piece of paper out of his notebook and handed it to Chad.

"Yup, see, it's his homework. Bye."

Chad fled the room quickly and breathed a sigh of relief once the door was closed behind him. He glanced at his watch then sprinted to Ms. Darbus' class, sliding in the door just as the bell rang.

"Mr. Danforth, you are to be in your seat when the bell rings. If you're late again, it will be an automatic detention."

Chad nodded his head and slid into his seat. He gave Taylor a small smile as Ms. Darbus called role.

"Hey Ms. Darbus, where are Sharpay and Troy?"

"Probably in the janitor's closet again."

Chad shot a dirty look at the two jokesters in the back of the room and they quit laughing.

"Not that it is any of your business, Mr. Stevens, but seeing as though it is the result of a new school policy-"

Chad tuned Ms. Darbus out as she rambled on about how one unexcused absence resulted in a day of in school suspension. He doubted if she was placed in a life or death situation and she was told she could say three final words that she wouldn't be able to do it-though if she was being held captive she could probably save herself by talking her captures to death. He chuckled to himself then rubbed his arm after Taylor swatted it.

"Would you like to share with the class what you find so funny about the new detention policy?"

Chad looked up from Taylor to find Ms. Darbus staring at him expectantly. He shook his head. Then he waited for Ms. Darbus to turn her back to him before he buried his face in his hands.

--

Gabriella sighed as she followed Taylor and Chad through the lunch line. She grimaced as a lunch lady placed a greasy piece of pizza on her tray then motioned her to move along. As she followed the two love birds to a table in the center of the cafeteria, she made a mental note to start making her lunches the night before so if she woke up late-like that morning-she'd still have a good lunch to eat.

"So Gabriella, how do you like Albuquerque so far?"

Gabriella smiled as she watched Taylor unfold her paper napkin and place it on her lap while Chad took a big bite of the greasy pizza then wiped his hands on his pant leg.

"I like it so far."

It wasn't a complete lie. It was just that she hadn't been many places in town and she was hesitant to do so because she didn't want to get too attached to the city and the people there. After all, she'd spent the past 6 semesters at 5 different high schools in 5 different states.

"Hey Chad, the snack bar has the jumbo rice crispy treats again."

Gabriella's mind had barely registered that somebody had walked by them when she realized that Chad was gone. Taylor just shook her head.

"Rice crispy treats are his favorite junk food."

"I can tell."

Taylor laughed. "So what all have you done in town?"

"I've been to the mall, the hospital and Wal-mart."

"You haven't been to the library yet?"

"Not yet."

"Girl, you have to come. We have the best selection in the world, though I might be a little biased since I work there."

"You work at the library?"

"Yup, Chad's mom is the head librarian there. You know, if you're interested, I could see if there are any job openings."

Gabriella had never had a job before, but maybe the chances of her mom accepting another transfer for her job would go down if Gabriella had a job.

"I'll think about it and let you know."

Taylor smiled then rolled her eyes when she saw her boyfriend walking back with a handful of rice crispy treats. She grabbed two off the top and handed one to Gabriella before tucking one in her purse for later.

"Hey! Those are mine."

"Chad, you don't need to eat all those. Besides it would be rude for you to eat all of those in front of Gabriella and I without sharing."

He stuck his tongue out at her before sitting down. He kept his eyes on his prized rice crispy treats as he reached under the table and grabbed his backpack then shoved them in.

"So Gabriella, do you have a boyfriend?"

Gabriella froze in mid-sip of her orange juice. Did she? Normally she'd say no, she made a point to not get involved with guys, not matter how cute they were. But she had met a guy over the summer and she had forgotten about her rules.

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang before Gabriella had a chance to answer Taylor's question, but that didn't seem to faze Taylor at all.

"We'll just have to finish this conversation later."

Gabriella forced a smile on her face and made a mental note to figure out what she and Wildcat were or more accurately, had been.


	5. Chapter 3

Hey all! Can you believe there are only **19 days** until HSM3 comes out in theaters?! I'm going to see it with a bunch of friends for my 23rd birthday (which is Oct 25). I'm really excited about it :-D Anyway, I've been trying to write this chapter for a couple weeks and I was finally able to do it today. I'm crossing my fingers that chapter 4 won't take nearly as much time to write, but I'm back in school now and I'm already working on one paper and I'll have a few more to write before the end of October so we'll see what happens.

So read, review and let me know what you think!!

Love goes out to Kisha84, Lolly-xx, maurie1297, lilmissmonique, StephiieeBaybiiee-soo gangs... for reviewing the last chapter!

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**Chapter 3**

Chad felt like he was in a state of déjà vu Wednesday morning when the bell for homeroom rang and neither Troy nor Sharpay were in the classroom. He sighed and looked at Taylor who just shrugged. He shook his head and didn't respond when Ms. Darbus asked about Troy's where abouts.

"And Mr. Evans, where is your sister this morning?"

Before Ryan could answer, the door to the classroom swung open and Sharpay, dressed from head to toe in a sparkly pink number sashayed through.

"Ms. Evans, class started five minutes ago."

"I have a note." The blonde handed the teacher a note from the attendance office before sliding into the seat her brother had saved for her.

Chad pretended to listen to what ever it was that Ms. Darbus was yapping about, but underneath his cool exterior he was hopping mad. He had no idea where Troy was and at the rate his best friend was going, the basketball team would need to vote for a new captain this year.

As soon as the bell signaling the end of homeroom rang, Chad was out of his seat and almost to the door when Sharpay stopped him.

"Where's Troy?"

"I'm not his personal secretary." He rolled his eyes as Taylor and Gabriella walked over.

"Well, when you- who are you?"

Gabriella pointed to herself and the blonde gave a her a 'uh duh' look.

"Gabriella Montez, I just transferred from-"

"That's nice. Chad, when you see your best friend tell him to call me."

Gabriella watched in part shock and part awe as she watched the blonde strut down the hall like a model on the catwalk with the other students in the hall parting like the Red Sea to let her through.

"Who was that?"

"_That_ was Sharpay Evans, she's Chad's best friend Troy's girlfriend." Taylor shook her head and pursed her lips.

"Oh."

"Exactly, I'll see you guys at lunch."

Chad gave Taylor a quick peck on the lips before he headed for his next class, hoping Troy would be in there waiting for him-he wasn't. It wasn't until he got to the locker room for PE that he found his best friend.

"Look who finally decided to show his face."

"Dude, chill, I was at the dentist. My mom wrote me a note."

"I'd say I don't believe you except for the fact that Sharpay was in homeroom today and while I'm remembering, tell her to stop treating me like your personal secretary."

Troy sighed as his best friend stormed off.

Wanting to give Chad a few minutes to cool down, Troy dressed down for PE then headed for the gym. He spotted Chad talking to Zeke and Jason and headed their way only to have Chad go off in the opposite direction. His sudden departure told Troy that what ever Chad was mad about went deeper than Troy missing homeroom.

With Chad avoiding him and then having a different lunch time then him, Troy didn't get a chance to talk to his friend until their last class of the day-study hall in the library. They weren't supposed to talk, but Troy pulled Chad back to the reference section.

"You gonna tell me why you're so mad?" Troy kept his voice low.

"You know why."

"You sound like a girl when you say that."

"You would too if the only person who has time to hang out with you is your girlfriend."

The hurt look on Chad's face cut all the way to Troy's heart.

"Look, man, I'm sorry I haven't been around lately, bu-"

"Lately? _Please_, ever since last spring when you started saying you were going to break up with Sharpay, you've been letting her control you. Then you ditched me for the summer of our senior year to go work at a stupid summer camp and now you're back and spending all your damn time with Sharpay."

"I'm sorry." It was all he could think of in response to Chad's frustration and it was the truth. He hadn't realized how much his relationship with Sharpay had affected his relationship with Chad.

"Yeah, well, you should be."

"I promise I'll try harder to make time for you."

"That would be appreciated."

"How about tonight?"

"Can't, I'm going out with Taylor and Gabriella."

"Gabriella? Have I met her?"

"She just transferred, but if you came to homeroom every once and a while you'd have already met her."

"I know, I know, I'll be there tomorrow, I promise."

"You know, you could come with us tonight. We're just going to hang out at Sam's."

"Sure, why not?"

--

Gabriella stood outside Sam's, the popular diner where the East High students hung out, waiting for Chad and Taylor to show up. They had decided to meet at Sam's since they would be coming from Chad's house and she was coming from her house a few blocks away.

A sense of nervousness surrounded her body as she saw group after group go into the diner without sign of Chad and Taylor. She didn't know them very well, but she could tell that Taylor wasn't one to stand people up. Though, personal experience told her that it was very easy for time to be forgotten when you're alone with your significant other. A smile came to her face as she remembered the meal of chips, beef jerky and Mt. Dew that she and Wildcat had shared after they'd missed dinner.

"Whatcha smiling about?"

Gabriella blinked and saw Taylor standing before her with a knowing smile on her face.

"Come on, Chad's getting us a table."

Gabriella let Taylor drag her into the diner and over to a small booth Chad had claimed by the jukebox

"So you gonna tell me what or _who_ put that smile on your face?"

"Nobody." Gabriella felt her face heat up.

"Uh huh, sure." Taylor gave her a look that said she didn't believe her.

"I wonder where Troy is."

"Troy's coming?"

"Yeah, I invited him today, but he should- Hold on, I've gotta take this call."

Taylor turned her attention back to Gabriella as Chad headed for the door to answer his phone.

"So who is he?"

"It's nobody."

"Oh, come on, Gabriella. A _nobody_ can't put a smile like that on your face, only a _somebody_ can."

Taylor looked up when she heard stomping and saw Chad headed for their booth, a scowl on his face.

"I can't believe him!"

"Chad, what's wrong?"

"Troy isn't coming. He's ditched me _again_ for Sharpay."

"I'm sorry." Taylor put her hand on his as she looked up at him.

"It's like he has no self-control when it comes to her." He collapsed onto the booth seat next to her.

"I know, baby." Taylor caressed his cheek.

Gabriella felt awkward watching their moment and adverted her eyes to the rest of the diner crowd. She recognized a few people from her class, but everyone else had just been blurs in the hallways.

"So, Gabriella, you gonna tell me about your mystery guy or should I call him your boyfriend?"

Gabriella brought her eyes back to the table and saw Taylor smiling at her from the comfort of Chad's arm around her shoulder.

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Oh, let me guess, a boy that you broke up with because you were moving away but your heart still belongs to him?"

"No, we were never anything official."

"Oh! So there was a boy! What's his name?"

"I don't know."

Taylor's face went from excited to confused and Chad's showed a hint of uncomfort mixed with anger.

"You don't know his name?"

"It was a summer fling. We worked at this camp together this summer and we-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think I'm going to take off."

Taylor looked at Chad and nodded sympathetically.

"I feel bad about leaving you two here, though, can I take you home?"

"I don't live very far, I can walk." Gabriella pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, babe, it's okay, we wanted to hang out awhile longer."

"But I promised your mom when I started dating you that I would make sure you got home safely after each date."

"Fine about this, you take me to Gabriella's and then I'll have my mom pick me up. As long as it's okay with Gabriella that I come over."

"Yeah, that's fine."

"So what do you say, Chad?"

"Alright, fine. Where do you live Gabriella?"

"On Sanders, just past the elementary school."

"No way! I live off Sanders just past the elementary school! Which house is yours?"

"The big white one on the corner."

"I'm like five houses down from you! I live in the yellow one between the puke green and fire truck red ones."

Chad shook his head as the two girls chattered non-stop until he pulled up in front of Gabriella's house.

"I'll be inside in a second."

Gabriella nodded and climbed out of the car, letting Taylor say goodbye to Chad. She went into her house, leaving the front door open and found her mom sitting in the living room.

"How are you feeling, mama?"

"Sore, but okay."

"Okay, Gabriella, tell me more about this-" Taylor froze when she saw Gabriella talking to who she assumed was her mom.

"Mama, this is Taylor McKessie, my friend from school. Taylor this is my mom Maria Montez."

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Montez." Taylor held out her hand and tried not to stare at the cuts and scraps on Gabriella's mom's face. Or at the twin casts on her legs.

"You as well Taylor. I'm going to go to bed, you two keep the volume down."

"Do you need any help?"

"No, I got it."

Gabriella held her breath as she watched her mom pull herself up on her crutches then hobble to the office they had converted to her bedroom since she was unable to do stairs.

"So…" Taylor felt uncomfortable, she wanted to know what had happened to Gabriella's mom, but she didn't feel right just asking.

"She was in a car accident a few weeks ago. I was at camp when it happened and it's the reason I don't know what his name is."

"What do you mean?"

"The camp I worked at this summer was one of those where the staff and counselors don't use their real names, but nicknames. For example I was Waterbug and the guy, we called him Wildcat."

"Waterbug and Wildcat? Those are cute- sorry." Taylor smiled sheepishly for interrupting her.

"It's camp tradition not to reveal your real name until the last day of camp and Wildcat and I decided to follow that tradition. It's just that neither of us realized that my last day of camp would come shortly before midnight two weeks before everybody else's."

"So that's it? You didn't get to say goodbye or anything?"

Gabriella shook her head. "I was on a plane for New Mexico before the sun came up. I was so worried about my mom the first week here and was trying to get this place setup that I didn't think about it. But then one day when I was unpacking boxes I remembered, so I wrote him a letter with all my information, but he never replied."

"Wow."

Gabriella nodded.

"What do you think he's doing right now?"

"Probably playing basketball somewhere… it's his favorite sport."

"It's Chad's favorite sport, too."

"Speaking of Chad, how exactly did you two get together?"

"Oh, look at the time, I should get going."

"Taylor…"

"I'll tell you someday, I promise."

Taylor grinned and gave Gabriella a hug before she left the house.

Gabriella closed the door after her friend and leaned against it. Thinking about Wildcat made her sad and long to see him. She checked all the doors and windows, making sure they were locked then headed to her room. She grabbed the sketchbook off her desk and flipped through it, looking at all the drawings she had done of him at camp.

She loved the way his blue eyes sparkled when he smiled. And the way his in desperate need of a haircut hair fell in his eyes when he cocked his head to either side. A tear drop escaped her eye and splashed onto a charcoal drawing of his face. She knew he had received the letter, she knew it deep in her heart, but for whatever reason he had decided to not reply.


	6. Chapter 4

Okay so I just realized that I got **9 reviews** for the last chapter! That is soooo crazy exciting! It's one less than double what I got for Chapter 2. You guys just sooo totally made my day!! So thank you sooo very much to: MUW D'Bellegirl, lilmissmonique, Justletmebreathe3003, ScRuPuLoUs, starBURST-xo, zanessatroyella4evr620, naughtycate, maurie1297 and cornique chaylor girl for reviewing the chapter!

I gotta keep this brief tonight since I still have to write upwards of a page and a half for a paper that is due tomorrow so enjoy the chapter!!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Wanting to prove to Chad that he was capable of keeping his word, Troy headed straight to Ms. Darbus' room upon arriving at school Thursday morning. He needed to go to his locker, but he knew that if he did Sharpay would try to talk him out of going to class-just like she had done before, though he barely had a choice.

Sharpay had called him fifteen minutes before he planned to meet with Chad, Taylor and the new girl. Without bothering to find out if he had plans for the night, she had informed him that her family was celebrating her parents' 25th wedding anniversary and his presence was _required_. He had barely had time to call Chad and shower before Sharpay and her family arrived in a limo.

The "celebration" had consisted of Sharpay clutching onto Troy's hand throughout the meal, her parents getting completely tipsy due to the champagne they were drinking and Ryan spending most of the meal texting under the table. Troy had been miserable between trying to eat his dinner with his left since Sharpay wouldn't let go of his right and wishing like crazy that he was with Chad and Taylor and not with Sharpay and her brag-that-we're-rich family.

Troy knew that Chad would be pleased to learn that he had had a miserable evening with the Evans, especially since that was what he had wished upon Troy before he hung up. Troy knew he had let Chad down and having known Chad for most of his life, he knew he wouldn't be forgiven easily or quickly. It would be a long drawn out process, at least that's what he was expecting based on pervious experience.

Troy's conclusion was confirmed when Chad came into the room with Taylor. He shot Troy one fiery look then took his seat, intent on ignoring his best friend until he was ready to forgive him.

"Look, man, I'm sorry about last night, I-"

"Taylor, tell Troy I am not spe-"

"No way. I am not going to get involved in your petty little fight."

"It's not a petty fight. He isn't being a good friend."

"And you are, Chad? You keep bringing up how he hasn't broken up with Sharpay, but have you ever thought to ask why?"

Chad opened his mouth to say something, but the 'say something and die' look Taylor was giving him made him shut it. So instead, he crossed his arms and pouted, which made Troy snort in amusement. He had never seen his best friend act so whipped before. Then Taylor turned her attention to him and he could see the intensity in her eyes.

"And you, Troy, you need to get a back bone and start telling Sharpay _no_ before you have no friends."

Troy opened his mouth to reply, but shut it when he heard the click-clack of Sharpay's high heeled boots coming into the room.

"There you are, Troy! I had such a _great_ time _last night_."

Troy forced a smile as she sat before him, perched on his desk.

"It was super nice of daddy to let me take you home last night in the limo after we dropped him, mom and Ryan off. It was my favorite part of the -"

"Ms. Evans, desks are for _writing_ not _sitting_. And Mr. Bolton, nice of you to join us on this fine morning."

Sharpay slid off the desk and took a seat at her own as Ms. Darbus began to call role. It was when she called out the name Gabriella Montez that Troy turned in his seat for look for the new girl, but all he found was an empty desk behind Taylor. He looked at Taylor questioningly and she just shrugged.

After class let out, Troy headed to his locker to get his math book. As he rounded the last corner, a girl with long, dark curly hair and caramel skin caught his eye. He couldn't see her face since her back was to him, but the way she was dressed-a pair of dark wash jeans, a flowered top and a pair of brightly colored ballet flats-and the way she moved her hands as she talked to her friends struck a cord of familiarity inside him.

Unbeknownst to Troy, Chad and Taylor were in the hall, too, and Taylor was pushing Chad to talk to Troy.

"Go. Make use of today's free period and talk to your best friend."

"But-"

"Go!"

Taylor gave Chad a hard shove towards Troy and motioned for him keep moving.

"Hey." Chad stood next to Troy with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Concern spread across his face when Troy didn't even acknowledge his presence. "Look, Troy, I'm sorry." Chad put his hand on Troy's shoulder and quickly removed it when Troy snapped his head towards him. It was then that Chad noticed his friend's face seemed paler than it had just a few minutes before in homeroom. "Dude, are you ok?"

Troy turned his head back to where he had seen Waterbug, but she and her friends were no longer there. He looked both directions in the hall and didn't seem them. It was almost as if they had vanished into thin air.

_You're just imagining things. There's no way Waterbug goes to East High. You would have recognized her at camp or you would have seen her in the halls before now._

"Dude, seriously, you're starting to scare me. What's going on? Why do you look like you've just seen a ghost?"

Troy studied his best friend's face and saw a look of determination mixed with worry in his eyes. He knew Chad would keep asking until he knew what was going on.

"Talk to me, Troy."

"Locker room."

They walked to the locker room and after making sure nobody else was in there, Troy unlocked his dad's office with the key his dad had given him. They closed the door then sat down on the small couch his dad had shoved in for break period naps.

"Talk."

"I don't know where to start."

"How about what made you go whiter than you already are."

Troy took a deep breath.

"Seriously, dude, out with it already, I mean how -"

"I cheated on Sharpay."

Chad's jaw dropped. "You what? When?"

"I met a girl this summer and we hooked up a few times."

"Who was she?"

"It doesn't matter, but I thought I saw her in the hall."

"She goes here?"

"I dunno. Maybe?"

Then Chad did something Troy wasn't expecting. He jumped up and pumped his fist like Tiger Woods after a perfect putt.

"What are you going?"

"This is your out man! If you really want to end things with Sharpay, you just gotta tell her that you slept with somebody else."

"Don't you think that's a little cruel?"

"The truth hurts."

"Yeah, I guess…."

"Alright, let's go do something fun and play some ball."

Chad's idea of telling Sharpay outright that he had slept with another girl didn't sit well with Troy, but not really wanting to talk about Sharpay or Waterbug anymore, he followed his friend out to the gym and found himself in a 2 on 2 match.

--

Gabriella knew the second she woke up that something wasn't right, she could feel it all the way to her bones. She climbed out of bed and left her room, calling her mom's name then went into her mom's bedroom and found her mom sitting on her bed, tears streaming down her face.

"Mama, what's wrong?"

"Pain. Lots."

Gabriella nodded and hurried back to her room. She got dressed quickly, not taking the time to mess with her hair or her makeup then went back to her mom's room. She unfolded her mom's wheelchair then helped her mom get into it. She wheeled her mom to the front door then carried the wheel chair down the stairs before helping her mom down the five steps. She helped her mom into the car then drove her to the hospital.

It wasn't until after a nurse had wheeled her mom into a private room leaving her alone in the waiting room that Gabriella remembered it was a school day. Knowing she should call Taylor and ask her to get her homework for her, she patted her pockets on to find that she had forgotten to get her phone off her desk. With a sigh, she slumped into an uncomfortable vinyl seat that had very little padding.

Gabriella sat there for little over an hour before the nurse came and told her to come with her. She followed the nurse to her mom's private room and took a seat by her mom's bed as the nurse left.

"What's going on?" Gabriella took her mom's hand.

"One of the screws they put in my ankle slipped, they're going to have to go back and fix it."

"When?"

"They'll start prepping me for pre-op in a few minutes."

"Oh."

"It'll be much shorter this time, angel, I promise."

Gabriella nodded as she bit her lower lip. The surgery that followed the accident had been nearly six hours long with the doctors trying to repair her mom's ankles with screws and plates.

She stayed by her mom's side as her mom was prepared for her operation by a steady stream of hospital staff. Then after giving her mom a kiss, she watched as her already sleepy mom was wheeled out of the room for surgery.

Time ticked by slowly as Gabriella sat in the boring, sterile hospital room. With nothing to do, her mind went back to the night she had learned of her mom's car accident. She had been out most of the night with Wildcat and had only been in bed for a couple hours when the camp dean's wife had come into the room she shared with a couple other camp staff to get her up. She told her about the accident and that she needed to pack because her brother who had a personal plane would fly her to Albuquerque as soon as possible.

She had been so distraught over her mom's accident that she had just sat on her bed as the other girls packed her stuff. Her mind kept going to the worse case scenario of her mom dying even though she had begged it not to. She had already gone through the loss and struggle with her dad passing away when she was ten and she didn't know if she could go through it again with her mom.

Gabriella really didn't remember much after being told of the accident. She didn't remember how she got to the plane, getting on the plane or even the flight to a small airport in Albuquerque. All she knew was that the camp dean's wife was standing next to her when she saw her mom for the first time-laying in a hospital bed, hooked up to machines and waiting for a relative to show up and sign papers.

The camp dean's wife had stayed with Gabriella while her mom was in surgery then had stayed a couple days to help Gabriella unpack a few things at the new house. She had offered to stay longer, but Gabriella had turned her down. But right now, sitting in the hospital room by herself, Gabriella wished she had a friend.

Her growling stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten yet, so she wrote a quick note to her mom, just in case she came back while she was gone and headed for the cafeteria, but only made it as far as the nurses station before she was stopped.

"The food down there is revolting." Gabriella turned and found a nurse with black hair and espresso colored skin smiling at her. "We all do a potluck of sorts and we'd be more than willing to share with you."

"Oh, thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Gabriella followed the nurse to the break room and saw what looked like leftovers from several different people's dinners.

"Help yourself."

Gabriella put some food on her plate then sat down on the comfortable couch. They chatted a little as she ate, exchanging names and other tidbits.

"Gabriella, did anybody call the school for you this morning to let them know you wouldn't be in?"

Gabriella froze with her fork by her mouth. In all of the worry about her mom, she had totally spaced needing to get a phone call into the school.

"I'll take that as a no. Why don't I call them?"

"You can do that?"

"My daughter Taylor goes to the school and I'm good friends with the receptionist, so I don't think they'll mind."

"Your daughter isn't Taylor McKessie, is she?"

The woman, who's name was Veronica, smiled and nodded. "You know Taylor?"

"She was the first person I met on my first day at East High and we live in the white house at the end of your street."

"Well it's a very small world then."

After Veronica made the phone call to the school and Gabriella finished eating, she went back to her mom's room and waited another half hour before a nurse came in and said her mom was out of surgery but in post-op.

It was a little after three in the afternoon when the door to her mom's room was pushed open, but instead of seeing her mom, Gabriella saw Taylor come in. Seeing a friendly face for the first time in hours, Gabriella felt a wave of emotion come over her and she found herself wrapped up in her new friend's arms.

"Sorry." Gabriella brushed tears from her cheeks after she and Taylor ended their hug.

"Don't be, it's fine."

"I'm guessing your mom told you I was here."

Taylor nodded. "She told me you could use a friend, so I came straight here, but Chad said he would pick up all your homework from your teachers."

Before Gabriella could respond, the door to her mom's room opened and this time it was a nurse pushing her mom's bed into the room.

"I'll go wait in the hall for Chad." Taylor left the room and the nurse followed a few minutes later.

"How are you feeling?"

"Sleepy."

Gabriella smiled and smoothed her mom's hair.

"Have you been in here all day?"

Gabriella nodded.

"Then why don't you go home for awhile and do something fun."

"Mama, I can't leave you here by yourself."

"Gabriella, I want you to go home and do something fun."

"But mama-"

"No buts. You need to relax and I want you to go to school tomorrow."

Gabriella nodded.

"Will you be okay by yourself at house tonight?"

"I guess but it'll be a little weird being there by myself."

"You could stay with me and my mom."

Gabriella looked up and saw Taylor standing in the doorway.

"So it's settled. You'll stay with Taylor's family tonight and go to school in the morning."

Gabriella nodded.

"Now, go have some fun and let me sleep."

Gabriella nodded again and kissed her mom's cheek before leaving the room with Taylor. She really didn't want to leave her mom alone in the hospital, but she wasn't given a choice.

* * *

_P.s. to everyone who thinks it's taking them too long to find out that each other goes to the school... they find out in the next chapter._


	7. Chapter 5

HSM3 comes out in 4 days... I can't believe it... it seems like we've been waiting forever and now it's just a few days away! Since it's so close I'm pretty confident in saying that this will be the last update before the movie comes out... I'd love to prove that statement wrong, but I have a lot of homework to do between now and Friday, well actually Saturday, so I can spend my 23rd birthday (the 25th) seeing the movie and hanging out with my friends instead of doing homework.

So anyway, enjoy the new chapter and thanks to foreverlily, shalalax3, MUW D'Bellegirl, lilmissmonique, zanessatroyella4evr620 and zanessa4evr12 for reviewing Chapter 4. I hope to have a new chapter for you guys next weekend, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.

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**Chapter 5**

With Friday came the excitement of the first pep rally of the 2007-2008 school year. Troy loved pep rallies, especially during basketball season, but what made them even better was the fact that to make room for the assembly, homeroom was canceled _and_ since he was part of the leadership class that planned, organized and hosted the assembly he got to skip his end of the day classes to help setup.

Reaching his locker, Troy opened it and put his back pack away. The hall was particularly loud that morning and he didn't hear the click clack of Sharpay's shoes until she was next to him.

"Hi Mr. President."

Of course she would be the first to remind him that he was the school Associated Student Body (ASB) president. He and Chad had successfully run for the school's ASB president and vice-president jobs last Spring and the best part of the job was that they were in charge of hosting the school's assemblies.

"Hey, Shar."

"You ready for your big debut?"

"Uh huh." He glanced over his shoulder looking for any of his friends to come rescue him, but couldn't see any.

"I bet you're nervous. I could help you with your nerves." Troy gulped as her hand brushed against his belt.

"I- I think I'm good."

"You sure? Because I know this amazing trick." She leaned into him and pressed her pink lips against his. She darted her tongue into his mouth and was intent on making him follow her to the janitor's closet.

Chad turned the corner to go to his locker and groaned when he saw Sharpay pressing Troy up against his locker. Did that girl not have any shame? Shaking his head, he headed for his locker and cleared his throat.

"What do you want, Danforth?" Sharpay glared at him.

"I'd like to get to my locker."

"Then we have to go to class." Troy shot Chad a look that told him to play along.

"Oh, yeah, uh huh."

"Fine, but you're coming to my house tomorrow morning at ten sharp." She gave Chad a glare then she walked away.

"She's friendly."

Troy looked at his best friend and shook his head as the warning bell rang.

"Go to class, Troy."

Troy gave his friend a hard shove while Chad laughed.

"Shut up."

After their first four classes of the day, Troy and Chad found themselves heading to Chad's normal lunch time so they could eat something before heading to the gym to help set the gym up for the assembly. They found Taylor sitting by herself at the table she usually shared with Chad and Gabriella with her nose buried in a book.

"Hey."

She looked up and Troy saw her face visibly brighten when she saw Chad. She moved her backpack off the spot next to her on the bench and Chad sat down.

"Where's Gabriella?"

"She's calling to check on her mom."

Troy let his eyes wander around the cafeteria as Chad stole half of Taylor's sandwich. His pulse quickened-not in a good way-when his eyes landed on a familiar head of blonde hair.

"I think I'm-"

"TROY!"

He cringed as Sharpay's squeal echoed off the walls of the now silent cafeteria. He gave his girlfriend a small wave before tugging on Chad's shirt.

"We have to go decorate. Come on Chad."

"I'll be there in a second."

Troy gave Sharpay another quick wave before he hurried out of the cafeteria via the doors closest to the gym. On the other side of the cafeteria, the doors from the outside eating area opened and Gabriella came in, sliding her cell phone back into her pocket. She walked over to Chad and Taylor and slid into the seat Troy had just vacated.

"How's your mom?" Taylor set her book aside.

"In a little pain, but other than that good."

"Good to hear."

"So Gabriella, are you ready to experience your first Wildcat pep rally?" Chad stole one of Taylor's carrot sticks and took a bite.

"Actually, we're going to the library." Taylor smacked Chad's hand as he reached for another carrot.

"What? Why?"

"I don't like pep rallies, Chad, I never have. I always go to the library."

"But you've never been to a pep rally that Troy and I are hosting. Besides, did you ever think that maybe Gabriella wanted to go to the pep rally?"

"Actually, Chad, I really don't want to go to the pep rally." Gabriella tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Where is your school spirit?"

"Chad, Gabriella has more important things to worry about than silly school spirit."

"So what's your excuse?"

"I told you, I don't like pep rallies."

Chad shook his head then a smile spread across his face.

"What?"

"You will go to a pep rally, maybe not this one. But I guarantee you'll go to a pep rally this year."

"No, Chad, I won't."

"You'll have to if you get nominated for homecoming court."

"In what world would I get nominated for homecoming court?"

"A world controlled by me and my best friend. Well, I better go help decorate."

"Chad Danforth, don't you dare cheat or use your popularity to get me on the court."

"Oh I won't… I'll use Troy's. I'll meet you in the library after the pep rally." He gave Taylor a smirk before he left the cafeteria and went to the gym.

The leadership class was already working in high speed to get the gym ready for the pep rally when Chad walked in. He saw Troy motioning for him to come over and hurried over to his friend. They worked with the leadership teacher and prepared a script of sorts for the pep rally then headed to the locker room to get ready.

Forty-five minutes before school was to be let out, the students were dismissed from their classes to go to either the gym or the library. Once everyone had found a seat on the bleachers, Chad turned on his microphone and went to center court.

"Welcome to the first pep rally for the 2007 – 2008 school year, Wildcats!! I'm Chad Danforth, your ASB vice-president and it is my honor to introduce to you my best friend and your ASB president Troy Bolton!"

Just as they rehearsed, Chad stepped back as Troy walked out to center court.

"Alright, Wildcats, let's get this pep rally started!"

--

Gabriella's eyes surveyed the nearly empty library; it seemed liked just about everybody at East High had school spirit, except for her, Taylor and a few others. Maybe she should have gone to the pep rally, it wouldn't have hurt. Though, since Taylor made it clear that she did not attend pep rallies, the idea of sitting squished between two strangers didn't have much appeal.

Looking across the library table at Taylor who had her head buried in a book, Gabriella couldn't help but wonder why her new friend had no interest in going to a pep rally that her boyfriend had a hand in.

"Taylor?"

Her friend looked up at her.

"Why don't you like pep rallies?"

Taylor set down her book and smiled. "I think they're silly and a waste of precious class time."

"But Chad's a big part of it this year, don't you feel like you should be there supporting him, even just a little?"

"Gabriella, the last thing this school needs is another crazed East High student. Besides, I don't have to go to a pep rally to show Chad I care about him."

"Okay, you don't like pep rallies, but you'll go to his basketball games, right?"

Taylor chewed on her lower lip and let her eyes shift away from Gabriella.

"Taylor! You have to go to his basketball games. He's your boyfriend."

"What does me being his girlfriend have anything to do with me _having_ to go to his basketball games? He would never show up at one of my academic events."

"Don't you want to cheer for him, Taylor? Let him know that you're there to support him. I know you think he knows that you support him, but it wouldn't hurt to show it every once and awhile and besides, maybe he'll show up at one of your academic events to show you he supports you, too."

"You know you're bringing up stuff that Chad and I haven't even talked about."

"That doesn't surprise me. You and Chad are the oddest couple I've ever met, but for some reason it works."

"Yeah it does." Taylor smiled.

"I even had two cheerleaders come up to me today on my way to French and they asked me how you guys got together and I told them I had no idea."

"Why is everybody making such a big deal out of me and Chad being together? There's nothing special about us."

"I think it's the mystery of it all. I mean, he's popular, a jock and at times a class clown and you're not popular, an academic all-star and a serious student. Then there's the fact that you both refuse to tell anybody how you two went from acquaintances at the beginning of the summer to a serious couple by the end."

"You sure know a lot about our past for somebody who has only been at East High for four days. Are you sure you aren't a spy?"

"I'm sure, but come on, Taylor, I told you _all_ about Wildcat. You gotta tell me how you and Chad got together."

"Well you didn't exactly tell me everything about him, I don't know his name."

"Neither do I, now please tell me."

"Gabriella, I can't tell you, Chad and I agreed to keep it quiet."

"Why, does one of you have a scandalous past? An ex-spouse? A child?"

"No nothing like that." Taylor laughed.

"Then what is so secretive about how you got together?"

Taylor leaned in and motioned for Gabriella to do the same. "Chad worked at the library this summer and he doesn't exactly want everybody to know."

"Why, it's just a job?"

"Boys are silly." Taylor leaned back in her seat and shrugged.

"That's for sure."

"So back to Wildcat, I had a thought last night after you fell asleep while we were watching Grease."

"Let me guess, it was along the lines of wouldn't it be crazy if he went here?"

"I know it sounds like the plot of a sappy romance novel, but think about it Gabriella. Our mascot is a Wildcat and it would make sense-"

"Taylor, I'm sure there are at least five high schools in every state in the country that have the Wildcat as their mascot."

"True, I guess. But what if it's fate?"

"Fate? Really, Taylor? You don't strike me as person that believes in fate."

"Fate and I are best friends. I mean for all you know, your mystery boy could be the next person to walk through the door."

Gabriella couldn't help but look at the library doors and shook her head when she saw Chad walking through the door. "No I'm sure that one is yours and -"

The words died on her lips when she saw the tall, dark-haired male walking into the library behind Chad. Her brown eyes met his blue ones and when he froze in mid-step, she knew it was really him. _Wildcat_ was at East High.

* * *

See, I'm not like Troy... I kept my promise to you guys! Troy and Gabriella now know that each other go to East High and they'll get to talk in the next chapter.

Have a great week and enjoy HSM3!


	8. Chapter 6

Before you guys all attack me for not posting anything for like two weeks I would just like to say I'm happy to be home after a wet, dark, rainy to the point of zero visibility drive home. Okay.. now you guys can either attack me for not updating or you guys can forgive me and move on to the good stuff (aka the chapter).

Okay before you guys go on to the chapter can I just say I was floored by how many reviews I got for the last chapter? As of right now here on alone I got 15 reviews! That is more than DOUBLE what I got for the chapter before. So a major shout out goes to the following totally awesome, rock my freakin' socks off peeps: .lov3, Jezebel Montgomery, zanessa4evr12, zanessatroyella4evr620, HSMLoverAlways, ScRuPuLoUs, ..Seraphina.x., HERFACE, , shootingforthestars, MUW D'Bellegirl, lilmissmonique, bellatrixvssirius, daydreamer299 and seeleyswifey

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**Chapter 6**

The first 2007-2008 pep rally had been a success. Troy, with the help of Chad, had introduced the fall sports teams then had hosted a competition that pitted the freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors against each other and the seniors had been victorious.

After the rally ended and the last student left the gym, the leadership class had to clean up and return the gym to Coach Bolton's high standards.

Clean up took twenty minutes then Troy followed Chad to their lockers.

"So what do you have planned with Taylor tonight?"

"Nothing that I-…Shit!" Chad froze.

"What?"

"She's waiting for me in the library!"

Chad slammed his locker closed and Troy had to run after his friend to keep up. As they neared the library, Chad slowed to a walk and tried to even his breathing pattern before they entered.

But it was Troy that found himself short on breath when he saw Waterbug's dark, curly locks cascading down her back as she sat in a chair. He blinked and she was still there. Then she turned her head looked at he and Chad, looked away then snapped her head back in his direction.

"_Waterbug_." Her name was a whisper on his lips.

"What?" Chad gave him an confused look.

"That's _Waterbug_, the girl I told you about." His voice was still just a whisper.

"I dunno who this Waterbug chick is, but the girl with Taylor is Gabriella, the new girl."

Troy felt his heart begin to race as Taylor pulled _his_ Waterbug out of her chair and pushed her in his direction. Seconds later he was face to face with the beautiful girl that he thought he would never see again.

"Troy this is Gabriella and Gabriella this is-"

Troy's blue eyes met Gabriella's and a smile spread across each of their faces.

"TROY!" Sharpay's squeal ruined the moment and earned them all a dirty look from the librarian.

Troy groaned and turned to look at Sharpay who was practically hopping up and down.

"We have to go, right now!"

"Why?" Troy wanted to will her away so he could talk to Gabriella.

"Because daddy got us tickets to a show in Vegas for tonight. The helicopter is waiting for us."

"Shar, I can't-"

"Your dad already said you could." She smiled proudly and grabbed his arm. "Let's go."

Troy looked at Chad for help but his friend just shrugged, there was nothing he could do. Troy closed his eyes and shook his head before allowing Sharpay to pull him away.

The show was a Broadway meets Cirque du Soleil on crack concoction that Troy stopped trying to understand after five minutes. He found his mind wandering to _Watererbug_, er Gabriella. He had so many questions to ask her: why she left? What was she doing at East High?

Then later, after the show, when he was with Sharpay in her hotel room, all he could he could think about was Gabriella. How soft her kisses we compared to Sharpay's forceful kisses. How delicate Gabriella's soft skin was compared to Sharpay's toned, fake tanned skin.

"What is wrong with you tonight?"

Troy blinked and found Sharpay glaring at him with her arms crossed over her chest as she straddled his stomach.

"Huh?"

"You're like a zombie tonight, Troy. You were zoned out during the show and now you're not paying any attention to _me_."

Troy sighed. When it came to Sharpay _everything_ came back around to being about her. _Waterbug_ would have asked him if he wanted to talk about what was on his mind-though if he was with Waterbug he doubted that he'd have problems concentrating on her.

"And there you go again, zoning out." Sharpay got off the bed, picked up his jeans and threw them at him. She slipped on her robe before walking over to the door and opening it. "Goodnight, Troy."

Troy went back to his hotel room and collapsed on his bed. It was going to be a long weekend.

-----

As the weekend passed, Gabriella felt like she was going to go crazy. Her heart had stopped when Wildcat, er Troy, had come into the library with Chad. Then her heart started to race when she had almost gotten to talk to him before that crazy blonde showed up.

Gabriella couldn't help but hope that Wildcat's feelings towards her were as real as the ones she had for him and that the blonde was merely a rebound girl, somebody to help him get over losing her.

With Taylor busy all weekend, Gabriella had had to entertain herself. By five o'clock Sunday evening she had run out of things to do. Her homework (including stuff that wasn't due for a couple weeks) was finished, the house was spotless and she had even mowed the lawn.

She could barely contain her excitement Monday morning when she jumped out of bed. She couldn't wait to talk to Wildcat.

But waiting was what she had had to do. He walked into homeroom right before the bell rang and the school administration had decided to show a mandatory movie on sexual harassment during homeroom and Ms. Darbus had threatened detention to anyone who was caught talking or passing notes during the movie.

Then after class the blonde had attached herself to Troy's arm and pulled him away before Gabriella could say much more than 'hey' to him. It wasn't until she was headed to lunch, that she felt a hand grabbed her arm and pull her into an empty classroom.

"Hey." His smile was warm and his eyes playful. "Just like old times."

Gabriella blushed at the memory of him (and occasionally her) pulling the other into a supply closet at camp. She set her lunch bag on the desk behind her then took a good look at him. He has cut his hair though it still had laziness written all over it and his clothes were as casual as ever.

"Why didn't you say goodbye?"

She looked up and met his emotion-filled eyes. The smile that had been on his face just seconds before was not a straight line mixed with a hint of a frown.

"My mom was hit by a drunk driver, _Wildcat_. She could have been killed and I needed to get to her. Not to mention that I couldn't think straight."

"But we had a connection."

"We did, but you have to understand I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had taken a few extra minutes to say goodbye to you and my mom died because I hadn't gotten there in time."

"But you could have sent somebody to wake me up. I would have come with you."

Gabriella smiled and tucked a piece of his hair behind his ear. "I know, but I couldn't have asked that of you. Besides, it's like what I wrote in my letter, I was on autopilot just trying to survive that first week."

A look of guilt crossed over his face.

"You did get my letter, right?"

He took a few steps back and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I didn't read it."

"Excuse me?"

"I was hurt, you left without saying goodbye. So I burned it."

"You burned my letter?"

Now it was Gabriella's turn to look hurt and the look matched the ache in her heart.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again and I didn't want to know where you were or who you were because then I'd always wonder what if. I figured burning the letter and always thinking of you as _Waterbug_ would make life easier. You know, remember the good stuff."

They stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes before Gabriella worked up enough nerve to ask the question that his reasoning had proposed. "Is that what you want? To leave our relationship, essentially, at camp?"

Troy looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. "I have to get back to class."

"Answer me."

"I don't know." He didn't wait for her to say anything before he left the classroom and headed for his class.

Gabriella sighed as she grabbed her lunch bag and headed for her locker. She wasn't hungry any more. She tossed her lunch in a nearby garbage can then opened her locker to grab her history textbook-studying alone sounded better than having to explain everything to Taylor.

Closing her locker, Gabriella jumped in surprise when she saw Troy's blonde friend dressed in pink from head to toe, glaring at her. How had she not heard the girl approach?

"I don't know who you think you are, but Troy Bolton is my boyfriend and I don't plan on losing him to a new girl." The girl's words had venom in them to match the dark look that was in her eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"Stay a way from my boyfriend, new girl."

"What makes you think I'm trying to get with your boyfriend?"

"You new girls are all alike and I've been dealing with you all for the last two years and you won't get-"

"Wait, did you say two years?"

"Yeah. Troy and I started dating during sophomore year." The blonde seemed taken aback by Gabriella's question, kind of like she'd been thrown from her 'scare off the new girl' speech, but she quickly recovered. "Just stay away from my boyfriend!"

Gabriella sighed as she leaned back against her locker and watched the blonde march away. Her confusion concerning _Wildcat_ was only getting worse, because when they had met and started talking about relationships he had clearly told her that he wasn't dating anybody. She wouldn't have done anything with him if he had said that he was.

______________________________

_Dun dun dun....So question.. is anybody curious about how Chad and Taylor got together? Anybody have any theories are you all just interested in what's gonna happen next with Troy and Gabriella?  
_


	9. Chapter 7

You guys are going to hate me... unless something changes (ie I get all my school stuff done way fast) this will be the last update of Torn in November. I'm in my senior year of college and for one class alone I have three papers due, two before Thanksgiving and I have three other classes on top of that. But I swear to you all that I will finish this story, I won't give it up :-D You guys will just have to wait for it for a little while.

But anyway, thank you to my ever awesome reviewers (ZanessaLuvsTroyella, lilmissmonique, zanessa4evr12, JennCorinthos, Drwho992, topspin320, someonelikeyou10, ..Seraphina.x., Kahuna-Sama, ScRuPuLoUs, chelle2911, Cheznut2, Merebelle14084, Magicseeker101 and MUW D'Bellegirl), as I've said many times before y'all rock my socks!!

Enjoy the chapter and don't hate me too much ;)

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Troy could tell something was different at East High the second he had walked through the front doors. He couldn't exactly put his finger on what had changed, but he could feel it all the way to his bones.

It had been less than 24 hours since he had spoken to Gabriella and he knew he needed to apologize to her. It had been tough for him to turn his back and walk away from her when the ache of her heart was pouring through her warm eyes.

He had done the right thing though, at least that was what he had told himself to keep from going back to her. He was dating Sharpay after all and he needed to figure things out with her before he could figure out what to do with Gabriella.

Turning down the hall his locker was in, Troy spotted Chad and Taylor having what appeared to be a very animated discussion, at least on Taylor's side. As he drew closer, he could read the anger on Taylor's face, but as soon as he was close enough to hear what they were talking about, Taylor stopped talking, gave Troy a look that could kill and stalked off leaving Chad confused.

"Trouble in paradise?"

"Apparently."

"What did you do?"

"That's just it. I didn't do anything wrong." Chad slumped against his locker. "Everything was great yesterday at lunch, just me and Taylor. Then, BAM! After school she was mad as all heck and even Gabriella was upset."

"If Gabriella is upset too then you must have forgotten something big like a birthday or a month-iversary."

"But it wasn't Taylor's birthday and we don't celebrate month-iversaries, Taylor thinks they're stupid."

"Ok, well, hmm…maybe it's just PMS."

"I guess."

"Come on, let's get to Darbus' room before she snaps her cap."

Chad chuckled as he pulled himself to his full height. He fell in step with Troy and they headed for homeroom.

"Do you think I should get her flowers? You know, like a peace treaty."

"I think you should and make sure you actually did something to piss her off before you give her anything, otherwise she might think you're trying to cover something up."

"Good thinking, maybe this thing will have all blown over by tomorrow."

The two guys entered the partially full classroom and took their seats. Taylor and Gabriella came in a few seconds after them and walked right past Troy, not even acknowledging his presence. He turned around in his seat to say hello to both girls, but closed his mouth when neither would give him the time of day. He sighed and turned back around in his seat.

He could hear the click clack of Sharpay's heels long before he actually saw her. She blew him a kiss then stopped at the desk next to him where a quiet girl by the name of Kelsi Nielsen was sitting.

"Move." Sharpay's tone was forceful, rude and demanding.

"What?" Kelsi blinked behind her glasses.

"I _said_ _**move**_."

"But this it _my_ seat."

"Sharpay, just-" Ryan shut his mouth when his sister gave him an icy glare that Troy bet could freeze hell.

"Troy Bolton is my boyfriend and I want to sit by him, so move your scrawny little as-"

"Is there a problem, Miss Evans?"

Sharpay turned and found Ms. Darbus standing behind her. "No ma'am."

"Good, now take a seat."

Sharpay gave Kelsi an icy glare, which made the timid girl shiver, and then sashayed to her desk.

After homeroom Troy and Chad headed to their first class.

"Troy! Wait for me!"

Troy cringed and Chad groaned when they heard Sharpay running towards them.

"Shar, what are you doing? You class in on the other side of the school."

"Not anymore, lookie."

She handed Troy her class schedule and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Her schedule looked identical to his.

"You changed your schedule, why?"

"So we could be together all day, silly." She looped her arm through his and sent Chad a look that said get lost.

"I'll see you in class, Troy."

Troy sighed as he watched his friend hurry off. It didn't make any sense to him why Sharpay would change her schedule to be with him all day, it wasn't like they could talk or do anything else for that matter while they were sitting in a classroom.

The end of the day hadn't come soon enough in Troy's opinion and it hadn't officially started until he had walked Sharpay to the auditorium for her theater club then been forced to promise he would meet her there in two hours to walk her to her car.

Headed for his locker, Troy spotted Gabriella standing in front of hers putting stuff in her bag. Since he hadn't had the chance to really talk to her and apologize for the day before, he headed towards her.

She must have heard him approach because she looked up for a half a second then dropped her head. She shoved a couple more things in her bag, slammed her locker closed and hurried away.

"Gabriella, wait!"

He knew she had heard him, but still she kept walking towards the door.

The next day wasn't any better either. Chad was on edge trying to figure out why Taylor was mad at him and Troy had caught him with cell phone in hand a couple times debating whether or not to call a florist.

"Just give me until the end of the day and I'll figure out why she is mad at you."

"But how?"

"I know how to get Gabriella to talk, I dated her this summer, remember?"

Troy didn't dare tell his friend that Gabriella had flat out ignored him yesterday. But now that it was his best friend's sanity on the line, Troy wasn't going to let Gabriella walk away without telling him why Taylor was mad at Chad. He just had to figure out how to get her somewhere that she could get out of.

He tried to approach her several times throughout the day, but it was as if she could sense his presence and would turn away from him before he had even revealed himself to her.

After dropping Sharpay off at the auditorium Troy went to the school parking lot and there, right next to his blue neon sat a little pale blue slug bug. Hanging from the rearview mirror was a plastic looking flip flop and he knew it was Gabriella's. It was just as she had described it when they were at camp-right down to the Zebra print seat covers on the driver and passenger seat.

-----

Gabriella had never been so happy to have a girl friend in her life. She had been so hurt after learning that Troy had lied to her and Taylor seemed to pick up on the fact that something was wrong the second she saw her. Her new friend had gone out of her way to try and help her feel better.

Taylor had shown up on Gabriella's doorstep with two pints of ice cream and the two girls had spent the afternoon talking in Gabriella's room. When Gabriella told Taylor about her and Troy talking and then about her and Sharpay's little chat, Taylor was ready to kick Troy's ass.

"Who the hell does that boy think he is? God's gift to women or something?"

"Taylor, please don't hate him because of me, you guys have known each other for a long time, you're friends-"

"Troy Bolton is _not_ my friend, he's Chad's friend. I don't even think he likes that I'm dating Chad."

"But if he's Chad's best friend then shouldn't he be happy that Chad's happy?"

"I don't know and I don't care. But you know what I do know, Troy Bolton doesn't deserve our attention."

"He doesn't?"

"No, girl, he doesn't. I know you guys had an emotional and physical connection at camp, but the way he's treating you isn't far and you don't deserve it."

"So what do we do?"

"We ignore him and Chad, too."

"But won't ignoring Chad cause problems between you two?"

"I'll let him know what is going on."

The day after talking to Troy, Gabriella wasn't sure she would be able to ignore Troy or avoid him. Then he and Sharpay started rubbing their relationship in her face. It disgusted her the way that Sharpay attached herself to his arm and the way he walked her to the auditorium after school.

By the second day, avoiding him had become easier. Especially since her heart began to race any time she was near him and if her heart started to race she knew she needed to turn around and walk away. That was easy to do until she found him standing next to her car, looking in the window.

She approached him, catching him off guard. "Get away from my car."

"Alright, but just answer one question for me. Why is Taylor mad at Chad?"

She wanted to smile at the fact that Chad had successfully made his best friend think he had no clue what was going on, but instead she faked a look of confusion. "Taylor isn't mad at Chad."

"Yeah she is, she's hardly said two words to him since the other day."

It made Gabriella mad that he hadn't even stopped to think about what had happened two days ago. According to Taylor, Chad had told Troy exactly when Taylor had gotten mad, after lunch on the day that Gabriella and Troy had spoken.

It was then that Gabriella decided to tell Troy what was really going on. "Taylor isn't mad at Chad. She's mad at you."

"Me? What did I do to her?"

"It isn't what you did to her that pissed her off, Troy. It's what you did to me, her friend."

"Is this about the other day about me leaving?"

"Not completely, Troy, a small part yes. But this is really about that fact that you _lied_ to me when we met at camp."

An 'oh' look crossed his face.

"You told me you were _single_, Troy! And I had to find out the truth from your psycho girlfriend of _TWO YEARS_!"

"I can explain."

"I won't listen."

He stopped in between her and her car door.

"Get out of my way, Troy." Her words were short and forced.

Their eyes met for a second then he moved away. She pulled open her car door, threw her stuff in then slammed the door. She started the car then drove off. She wasn't sure where she wanted to go. She didn't want to have to go home and face her mother, but she needed to go somewhere.

Then a sign caught her eye and she smiled. She flicked on her blinker and turned into the parking lot of the Albuquerque Public Library. She parked her car and filled the parking meter with coins then headed into the library.

She knew Taylor was working today, but she decided to wander around the library instead of looking for her friend right away. It was a good sized library, two floors with a lot of art work that was inspired by the history and landscape of New Mexico.

Her tour of the library started downstairs by the magazines and newspapers and she slowly moved to the fiction section then up the stairs to the children's section and finally to the non-fiction section. She was looking at a biography for Princess Diana when she heard moaning.

Confused, she set the book down and headed towards the sound only to freeze at the end of the isle when she saw two people in the back corner making out. Not wanting to be spotted, she backed up and tripped over a step stool as she was turning around. She cried out in pain as she fell and the couple broke apart.

"Chad? Taylor?"

Her friends glanced at each other sheepishly before Chad excused himself and Taylor hurried over to help Gabriella up.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Just stubbed my toe."

The two friends sat quietly for a few seconds.

"I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?"

"Yeah. I mean, you guys were just making out in the library, Taylor."

"We weren't expecting to be caught, we've never gotten caught before."

"You've made out here before?!"

"Shh."

"Taylor, you both work here and his mom is the librarian."

"You don't think I know that?" Taylor pulled her hand through her hair. "I was totally against dating Chad at first; I thought he was loud and annoying like he can be at school."

"But then?"

"I got to know him. When we first started working here, he claimed he was working on the janitorial staff, which wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't the truth either."

"What do you mean?"

"During the day he was a part of the maintenance crew, but after all the patrons and most of the staff was gone he was helping stock books and I found out he helps his mom pick out a lot of the books that we buy.

"Then one day, I was putting books away downstairs and found him sitting in a chair reading Ernest Hemingway. Needless to say, I was shocked and he was worried about me telling people what I had found. I promised I wouldn't say anything and we started talking about literature. We both love The Great Gatsby and the poetry of Emily Dickinson."

"Chad likes poetry and literature?"

"He writes it too."

"He does?"

"Yeah and he's great at it."

"Then why isn't he in our lit class?"

"Because my boyfriend doesn't want people to know."

"Huh?"

"Chad is afraid people will treat him differently if he were more studious."

"That's absurd."

"Yeah well, guys can be silly. And since Chad doesn't want people to know about his love of English we decided to be candid about how we got together."

"Does his mom know?"

"About the poetry and the writing, yes. The making out in the library, no. And it has to stay that way, I'd get fired for sure."

"Well I'll keep my mouth shut, but you guys should be careful. Anybody could have walked up on you guys and believe me, when your boss catches you it's the worst."

"Personal experience?"

Gabriella blushed and nodded. She had been a lifeguard for awhile at camp and she and Troy had found themselves making out in the lifeguard room one evening and had been walked in on by the head lifeguard. Since it was Gabriella's first infraction, the head lifeguard had promised to keep it a secret but Gabriella felt so guilty about it that she asked to be moved to another area. She had spent the remainder of camp working in the arts and crafts tent with a perfect view of the sports field where Troy led game after game without a shirt on.

* * *

And I probably shouldn't do this because it'll make you guys hate me even more... but there will be a little kissy kissy action in Chapter 8 ;)

Oh and a quick Happy Thanksgiving for y'all that celebrate it just in case I don't have a chance to update before then.


	10. Chapter 8

Hey! I hope you guys all had a great Thanksgiving! I am very happy to be back and writing though I still have this weekend and part of next week to finish things up for school. I really had no plans to work on this story until after everything was done but last night I felt lazy and instead of doing my homework I started working on this chapter and was truly and completely shocked when I finished the chapter and was in bed, asleep, before midnight... that never happens! haha but anyway, I don't have a lot of time to talk as I need to end to work then school, so I hope you all have a great day and enjoy this chapter.

Thanks to the lovely peeps that reviewed the last chapter: JennCorinthos, chelle2911, mishyB, daydreamer299, ..Seraphina.x., ZanessaLuvsTroyella and zanessa4evr12

p.s. Just thought I'd let you guys know that there are only two more chapters after this one.

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**Chapter 8**

After taking Sharpay home after her theater rehearsal, Troy headed home and locked his bedroom door before getting on his hands and knees and pulling a shoe box out from under his bed. With his back against his bed, he opened the box and thumbed through the contents that he had collected over the summer-letters from his parents, a postcard from Chad's trip to Disneyland and a couple pictures he had printed off the camp's website of him and Gabriella.

Then he saw _it_-the hemp bracelet she had made for him. Well, she hadn't made it for him, technically. It had been the first bracelet she had made after switching jobs at camp and had declared the bracelet ugly and wanted to throw it away. But he had rescued it before she could and then had worn it every day for the rest of the summer. He could still see the smile that had spread across her face when he had answered a camper's question about the bracelet by saying that a very special lady had made it for him.

Now he had completely messed things up, well actually, Sharpay had messed them up, but that was his fault, too. With a sigh he put the bracelet back in the box and slid the box back under the bed. He needed to talk to somebody and to somebody who would give it to him straight.

Pulling himself up, he grabbed his car keys and left his room, yelling to his mom that he would be back later. He drove over to Chad's house and after seeing that no cars were in the driveway or on the street in front of the house, he let himself in using the hide-a-key under the ceramic pot on the back porch.

Having been told numerous times by Chad's mom to make himself at home, Troy grabbed a bag of chips and a soda before going upstairs to Chad's room. He grabbed the remote off Chad's desk and in the process knocked over a stack of papers. Tossing the remote on to Chad's bed, Troy bent down and picked up the papers, but stopped when he saw Chad's name written in the upper corner.

Curious, he carried the stack of papers over to the bed and sat down. Looking at the first paper he saw the date July 3, 2007 printed below Chad's name. Troy let his eyes scan the paper then the next realizing quickly that it was a poem. But who's? As far as he knew, Chad didn't write poetry…did he?

Even though Troy knew he shouldn't invade Chad's privacy, he couldn't help but feel curious about what his friend could be writing poetry about. He found a poem entitled 'Crush' and decided to read it.

_I hung up the phone last night_

_Something happened for the first time deep inside_

_It was a rush, what a rush_

_Cause the possibility that you would ever feel the same way about me_

_It's just too much, just too much_

_Why do I keep running from the truth?_

_All I ever think about is you_

_You got me hypnotized,_

_So mesmerized_

_And I just got to know_

_Do you ever think, _

_When you're all alone,_

_All that we can be?_

_Where this can go?_

_Am I crazy or falling in love?_

_Is it really just another crush?_

_Do you catch a breath when I look at you?_

_Are you holding back, like the way I do?_

_'Cause I'm trying, trying to walk away_

_But I know this crush ain't goin' away_

It was obvious that the poem was about Taylor without mentioning her name, but he was impressed by what he had read. If Chad was truly the author of this poem then, in Troy's opinion, Chad was the best poet he had ever read.

Picking up another poem, Troy became so engrossed in his reading, he didn't hear the door open or see Chad standing in the doorway in shock. Chad looked at his desk, hoping the folder of his writings would be there and that Troy was reading something else, but finding the desk void of a folder cemented his worst fears.

"What are you doing, Troy?!" Chad's angry tone brought Troy to the present and he found his best friend grabbing the papers as fast as he could. "You aren't supposed to be reading these!"

"Why not?" Troy retracted his hands as Chad ripped the paper out of his hands. "Did you write them?" Chad didn't answer. "They're really good, Chad."

"What do you know?" Chad's words were snappish. "You think Eminem is a good writer."

"Whoa, Chad, calm down." Troy held up his hands. "I'm sorry for reading them, man. I didn't mean to, I accidently knocked the folder onto the floor when I was getting the remote. I didn't mean to snoop."

Troy's calm tone seemed to ease Chad's jumpiness a little, but he could still tell his friend was mad at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I need some advice and since you're my best friend, I know you'll tell me like it is."

"I assume you're talking about what happened between you and Gabriella?"

Troy nodded.

"It depends on how you really feel about her."

"I like her a lot and I have liked her since the moment she stepped off the bus with hair pulled back in a pony tail." A smile spread across Troy's face as he remembered that first day. His parents had driven him up to the camp and Gabriella had ridden the bus with some of the other counselors. She had been full of smiles that day even though she seemed to be the prime target of all the insects.

"Troy!"

Troy blinked and saw Chad waving his hand in his face.

"What?"

"You're a total goner." Chad just shook his head as he chuckled.

"So what do I do now?"

"I think it's pretty obvious."

"And that is?"

"Dump Sharpay."

Troy grimaced.

"Dude, if you really like Gabriella and you want to fix things between the two of you then you need to ditch the bitch."

Troy sighed.

"It's not like it's a big deal, Troy. You've been planning on breaking up with Sharpay for months."

"It is a big deal, Chad. Sharpay doesn't know that I've been thinking about breaking up with her and it would be a little weird if I suddenly ditched her for the new girl."

"Then tell Sharpay the truth, tell her that you and Gabriella met at camp and that you guys hooked up and now you want to be with her."

"Yeah right, if I did that who knows what Sharpay would do to me or worse Gabriella."

"Then I guess you need to decide what's more important to you, keeping Sharpay happy or being with Gabriella."

----

By the time Gabriella got home from the library, it was nearly dinner time and she had to make dinner for herself and her mom. With her mom still laid up from her second surgery, she had the kitchen to herself which only encouraged her to think.

She had gotten quite the eyeful that afternoon at the library and had never imagined that somebody like Chad could be so deep. Yet, there was something about the new information she had about Chad that just made sense. She felt guilty for subconsciously labeling him a dumb jock on the basis of him being a basketball player, somewhat of class clown and having a sugar addiction.

It seemed weird that she had been so judgmental about Chad's personality when she had first met him as opposed to when she had met Troy, though she was sure that had something to do with she had met Troy outside the confines of a cliché-ruled school. In fact she hadn't believed Troy was a jock at first, because he seemed so dorky and had a non-competitive nature. Or so she had thought until she saw him playing basketball with a group of guys, though she would never admit aloud that she had been staring at his well defined abs as beads of sweat rolled down them.

Shaking off the unwanted thoughts, Gabriella turned her attention back to cooking dinner. Once it was finished she carried a tray with two plates on it and went into her mom's room. She sat down on the chair by bed and they watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy as they ate.

Finished eating, Gabriella waited for her mom to finish eating before she carried their dishes to the kitchen to clean up the dinner mess. Then she gave her mom a goodnight kiss and headed up to her room.

Even though she had homework to do, she laid back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. As her mind wandered back to camp and she remembered the first conversation she had had with Troy. It had been the second morning of camp and she had been covered in insect bites. He had rescued her by offering to put anti-itch medicine on her back then offered to share his bug spray with her. She had been taken by his kindness and his warm smile instantly and accepted his offer. Thus began their summer of sharing. They shared everything: stories, food, candy, drinks, hugs, kisses and, towards the end of camp, beds.

Gabriella had never planned to be one of those girls who regretted who they gave their virginity to and until she had ran into Troy and met his _sweet_ girlfriend Sharpay, she hadn't regretted it. But now, after learning about the lie that had started all of this, she was regretting that decision more and more.

Hearing the doorbell ring, Gabriella pulled herself off her bed and descended the stairs in no particular hurry since she was sure it would be Taylor. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she yelled to her mom that she was getting the door then headed towards the front door.

Being a very cautious person, she looked through the peephole and her breath caught in her throat when she saw that the person on the other side wasn't Taylor. It was Troy. Her heart raced as she tried to figure out what to do. Should she open the door? Did she have time to race back to her room without-

"Gabriella, please open the door."

Her heart stopped, he knew she was there.

"Come on, _Waterbug_, I know you're there. Please talk to me."

With her brain and her heart too frazzled to make a decision, it was her hand that made the decision to open the door. She opened it wide enough to see him standing outside in the dark, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans.

"Can I come in?"

Her head nodded without waiting for permission. She stepped out of the way and let him in.

"I'll be right back." Some how she made her legs carry her to her mom's room where she found her mom asleep, no doubt due to the pain pills she was taking. She covered her mom with a blanket then turned off the TV before she slipped from the room and returned to Troy.

She found Troy standing by the mantle looking at the pictures that rested there.

"What are you doing here, Troy?"

He looked over at her then motioned for her to sit down. She shook her head and he sighed.

"I owe you an apology, Gabriella, and an explanation."

"Troy, I told you, I don't want to hear your -"

"Just listen for a minute." His voice ordered in a frustrated tone. "Since the very beginning of our relationship, our friendship, we have always listened to each other and I need you to hear me out. Please, just give me a couple minutes."

"Fine." She sat down on the couch and gave him her attention.

"I shouldn't have told you I was single when I was clearly still with Sharpay, but what you have to understand is that I had been trying to break up with Sharpay for months and it never happened. You've seen how she is, she doesn't let anybody else get a word in and she is very manipulative.

"That was one of the reasons I went away this summer. I wanted to experience life without her for the first time in years. Then I met you and I was drawn to you, because you were genuine and Sharpay's total opposite.

"I guess at first I thought that I could be with you this summer then go back home and be with her. But then I got to know you more and we became really good friends and I realized that I didn't want to be with her anymore, I wanted to be with you. Then you left without saying goodbye and it hurt so much.

"So when I got home I got wrapped back up in Sharpay's web and I thought I'd never get a second chance with you. But now you're here and I know I've already blown my second chance, but I hope you'd be willing to give me a third."

"What about Sharpay?"

"As far as I'm concerned, Sharpay and I are over. I'm going to break up with her, I'm sick of being her puppet." He moved over to her so he was sitting next to her on the couch. "Please give me another chance, _Waterbug_."

Gabriella sighed and looked into his shimmering blue eyes that reminded her of the lake the camp over looked. She wanted to take him back, she really did, but she was afraid of being hurt again. She felt him put something in her hand and looked down to see the ugly hemp bracelet she made sitting there. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes and she brought them up to look at him.

"Take me back?"

She nodded and placed her hand on his cheek, caressing the prickle stubble that had grown in the course of the day. Then she closed her eyes and brought her lips to his, innocently at first then more intimately as he slid his tongue into her mouth.

_Chad's poem is really David Archuleta's song Crush_


	11. Chapter 9

FALL TERM IS OFFICIALLY OVER! *happy dance* And in celebration of it being over I've spent the last like 7 hours or so writing... I wrote a new chapter of mine and naughtycate's story On the Rebound (it's listed as one of my favorite stories in my profile) and I wrote this chapter of Torn! You guys love me now but you might not when you finish reading this chapter... :/

Anyway, thank you as always to my lovely reviewers: bronzedbeautyholic, bluebirdy07, JennCorinthos, zanessalov3r, ..Seraphina.x., naughtycate, Cheznut2, lilmissmonique, chelle2911, Midnight113, Magicseeker101, daydreamer299, zanessa4evr12 and mishyB **YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME**!!!!

So enjoy the chapter and be sure to let me know what you think!

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**Chapter 9**

After Troy left Gabriella's house, he went home and tried to think of how he could break up with Sharpay. His previous attempts had failed the minute he had walked in her front door. She was like a drug, but this time he would be strong and break up with her. Their time as a couple had run its course.

But just to be on the safe side, Troy had told Gabriella to give him a couple days to break things off with Sharpay before they told Chad and Taylor about their relationship and possibly shared the news with the rest of the school.

When he got to school the next morning, he wanted so badly to greet Gabriella with a kiss when he found her standing with Taylor by Chad's locker. Not wanting rumors to be spread about the two of them, he gave her the same smile he gave Chad and Taylor, though he was dying to give her a better one.

School passed agonizingly slow for Troy, especially since Sharpay was in all of his classes and sat next to him in all of them. Things would definitely get awkward when they broke up, but maybe the breakup would make Sharpay go back to the classes she belonged in.

"So, Troy, you wanna come over tonight?" Sharpay twirled her blonde hair around her finger flirtatiously. "Mommy and daddy are out of town and Ryan has plans. We'd have the house to ourselves."

Troy gulped, but nodded. He could stand his ground when it came to Sharpay, right? After all, he didn't have feelings for her anymore, well at least none that were as strong as his feelings for Gabriella.

"Sure, Shar, I'll come over tonight."

Troy groaned as he felt Chad elbow him in the back and gave his friend a 'I know what I'm doing' look. Chad just shook his head and went back to doing whatever it was he was pretending to do while he eavesdropped.

At 7 p.m., Troy climbed into his truck and drove to the Evans' large house. He had purposely tried to dress in a way that would discourage Sharpay from trying anything. He had even worked out and not showered before coming over and he hadn't tried to mask his manly scent with the cologne Sharpay had given him the previous year for Christmas.

Parking his truck in front of the house, he made his way up the pathway and knocked on the front door. He could do this, he told himself. He would break up with Sharpay, go home and shower then head to Gabriella's to share the good news.

He began to regret his decision to do this at her house when Sharpay opened the front door dressed in a short black skirt and sparkly pink halter top.

"Hi, Troy." She smiled and let him into the house.

Walking past her, he was happy he hadn't bothered with the cologne because she was wearing enough body spray for the both of them. But at least it was the fragrance he loved. It made her smell fruity and fresh.

"I thought we'd hang out in my room." She took his hand and started towards the stairs.

"Wait, Shar, we need to talk." He wouldn't let her distract him from his mission.

"We can talk in my room, Troy."

"But-"

"Come on, Troy."

He let her lead him up the stairs and into her room. He gulped as he entered the candlelit room.

"We really need to talk, Shar."

"Shh." She placed a finger against his lips. "We don't need to talk, Troy. We've done a lot of talking lately and I think what we need is a night to remember why we love each other."

Love each other? What was she talking about? He didn't love her, in fact he had never told her such a thing… at least he didn't think he had.

Feeling her press her lips against his, Troy felt himself go into automatic mode. He kissed her back, allowing her tongue into his mouth and didn't object when she started moving back towards her bed.

An hour later, Troy left Sharpay's house feeling guilty. His mission to breakup with Sharpay had failed once again. Instead of breaking up with he, he had had sex with her. It hadn't been part of his plan, it had just happen. Though he was sure that was exactly what Sharpay had been planning.

Mad at himself, Troy drove around Albuquerque for a couple hours before he returned home and went straight to bed. Gabriella was expecting him to break up with Sharpay so they could be together, but he had let her down once again.

The next morning Troy got to school and felt eyes on him and heard giggling as he walked to his locker. He found Chad standing there with his arms crossed, looking mad as hell.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Please tell me you broke up with Sharpay last night and this is all one of her over dramatic attempts to get you back."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sharpay is walking around school in a low cut shirt showing off a hickey that she claims you gave her last night."

"What? Where is she?"

Chad pointed behind Troy where a gaggle of girls were standing around Sharpay.

"Has Gabriella seen her yet?"

"No, but she's about to."

Troy looked over his shoulder and saw Sharpay approaching Taylor and Gabriella, who had just entered the hall. He saw Sharpay showing off something on her neck before walking off. Then he saw Gabriella look in his direction with tears in her eyes before she ran off, Taylor hot on her heels.

_Shit._

-----

After Troy left, Gabriella leaned against the front door and let out a soft squeal. Unable to contain her excitement, she left the house and ran over to Taylor's house. Even though Troy had asked her not to say anything to Taylor or Chad about it, there was no way she couldn't tell somebody.

She knocked on the McKessie's house and barely said hello to Taylor's dad when he opened the door. She ran up to Taylor's room and knocked on her friend's door once before letting herself in.

Taylor who was on the phone, looked up and saw Gabriella practically bouncing, she gave Gabriella and intrigued look. "Chad, I'll call you back in a few minutes."

"Ok, girl, what's up?" She hung up the phone and set it aside.

"Troy was just at my house." Gabriella's smile stretched from ear to ear.

"And you're smiling so something good must have happened."

"I'm not supposed to tell you, but I have to. You just have to promise not to tell Chad."

"I promise! I promise! Tell me already!"

"Troy's going to break up with Sharpay and be my boyfriend!"

Taylor squealed and gave her friend a hug. They danced in a circle before Taylor stopped suddenly.

"Wait, he's _going_ to break up with her as in he hasn't done it yet?"

"No, but he promised he would and that it would be in the next day or two."

Taylor took a step back and bit her lower lip.

"What?"

"Honey, he's been telling Chad that he was going to break up with Sharpay since last spring…"

"Well he really means it this time. He promised and we kissed on that promise."

"I really hope he follows through this time."

"You're supposed to be happy for me, Taylor!" Gabriella threw her hands in the arm.

"I am happy for you, Gabs, I just don't want you to get your heart broken."

Gabriella shook her head and walked home. She tried to keep herself upbeat with Troy's promise, but Taylor's words kept entering her mind. She had faith in Troy. He would break things off for good with Sharpay and the blonde would be out of their lives forever.

The next day Gabriella couldn't fight off the jealousy she felt every time she saw Sharpay practically hanging off Troy. A mixture of jealousy and hope filled her body when Chad informed her and Taylor at lunch that Troy was going to Sharpay's house that night.

That night she waited for Troy to call to tell her that he had broken things off with Sharpay. Taylor had helped her pass part of the time but had left a few minutes after ten. When Troy hadn't called by midnight, Gabriella had given up and went to sleep.

When the doorbell rang the next morning, Gabriella hoped it would be Troy but it was only Taylor.

"Did he call?"

Gabriella shook her head.

"I'm sure he has a good reason."

The two friends drove to school in Gabriella's car and used a side entrance to get enter the school rather than go through the front doors. The hallways were a buzz and they soon found out why as Sharpay made her way towards them.

"Alright, new girl, you want proof that Troy is my boyfriend and will stay my boyfriend, then here you go." She pointed to a hickey on her neck. "He gave that to me last night when he came over." She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and walked away.

Words couldn't come to Gabriella as she moved her gaze down the hall to where she knew Troy was standing. She didn't want to believe what Sharpay had told her, but one look at Troy's guilty face told her that it was true.

With a sob, she fled the scene and didn't stop until she had reached the safety of the Chemistry lab. She felt somebody embrace her from behind and knew it was Taylor. She should have listened to her friend, she hadn't steered her wrong once in the short time they'd known each other.

"Oh, honey, Troy doesn't deserve you."

Gabriella continued to sob and didn't hear the door open or footsteps until she felt Taylor stiffen.

"What the hell do you want, Troy?"

"I want to talk to Gabriella."

"No, I've tried to stay out of this, but I'm putting my foot down. You need to leave, Troy. Leave this room and just leave her alone."

"Taylor, I-"

"Save it, Troy. You may be Chad's best friend, but I can't stand to look at you."

"Taylor, just let me talk to her."

"Why, Troy? So you can make another promise to her? Did you really think you could break up with Sharpay this time?"

"Shut up, Taylor, you don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, I do, Troy. Gabriella is my friend and she told me everything. Well, not everything, but the important stuff. Like you promising her you were going to break up with Sharpay so you could be together."

"You told her?"

His question was directed at Gabriella and for the first time since he had walked in she felt like answering.

"Yes, I told her. Because I trusted you, Troy, I trusted you then, I trusted you when we were at camp and you know what, I'm done trusting you."

"Gabriella, just give me another chance."

"No, Troy, I've given you enough chances."

She stood up and looped her arm through Taylor's and allowed her friend to lead her out of the room. They were rounding the corner when they heard Troy call her name.

"Gabriella, wait."

Taylor looked at her friend then stopped walking when Gabriella turned to look at Troy.

"This summer was special to me, Gabriella. I loved every moment I spent with you and I'm sorry I've let you down." A crowd gathered around them but Gabriella didn't care. "Please just give me another chance to prove that we can work out. I love you, Gabriella Montez. You will forever by my _Waterbug_."

"Water- what?" The crowd parted and Sharpay entered the circle. "Will somebody tell me what's going on here."

"I think Troy and Gabriella were an item this summer." Sharpay glared at the random student who had spoken to her.

Sharpay looked from Troy to Gabriella and back at Troy. "Her? You were an item with her when you were dating me?"

The moment over, Gabriella and Taylor walked off but as they did they heard Sharpay tell Troy that they were over.

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Note: I'm sure you guys officially hate me now... but before you start deciding how you're going to murder me (though may I suggest sending me Corbin Bleu and letting me drool to death?)... I just want to say that there will be a happy ending in the next chapter and a happy epilogue after that... wait... I wasn't going to say anything about the epilogue...darn... oh well... secret is out of the bag now! (p.s. you can send me Corbin Bleu just for the heck of it now and I'll try not to drool myself to death ;) diaper for the face, anyone? hehe)


	12. Chapter 10

I had a thought of being evil and making you guys wait until Monday or Tuesday to post this chapter...but then I realized that I couldn't wait that long. This is the last chapter of the story, this is where Troy and Gabriella's (current) story ends, though there will be an epilogue...With that in mind, I bring you Chapter 10 of Torn.

Thanks to shootingforthestars, bronzedbeautyholic, someonelikeyou10, chelle2911, Midnight113, mummy b, lilmissmonique, Princesssam411, quitarqueen06, ..Seraphina.x., LexiconLust, mishyB, teresa995, daydreamer299 and lol925 for reviewing Chapter 9.

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**Chapter 10**

The night of East High's Homecoming dance, Troy entered his room and collapsed onto his bed. He had spent the last four hours helping setup a dance that he wouldn't be attending. The best part was that since his parents were chaperoning the dance and Chad was going with Taylor, he would be able to spend a night alone without anyone checking up on him every fifteen minutes.

In the weeks that had passed since his very public breakup with Sharpay and the equally public outing of his summer fling with Gabriella, his parents and Chad had taken it upon themselves to make sure he was ok mentally or, in his psychologist mother's words, have any "suicidal" thoughts.

The breakup had taken place on a Friday and Troy had hoped the weekend would keep rumors from being started, but when he got to school the following Monday and heard whispers in the hall as people stared at him. In the days that followed, he heard everything from that Sharpay had caught him and Gabriella in bed together to Gabriella was pregnant with his baby.

It was the real pregnancy of a freshman cheerleader by the football team's senior quarterback that made everyone forget or at least stop talking about the situation between Troy, Sharpay and Gabriella.

With the East High student body focused on the bigger scandal, Troy was allowed to return to a somewhat normal student. To his delight, Sharpay had transferred out of all his classes except homeroom by the end of the day the truth had come out. According to Chad, Gabriella and Taylor had tried to transfer out of Ms. Darbus' homeroom, but the move was turned down by a vice principal, but they managed to convince Ms. Darbus to move them to another part of the class room, away from Troy and away from Sharpay.

Rolling onto his side, Troy saw the picture of him and Chad holding last year's state championship basketball trophy. He felt like a bad friend for pulling Chad into this mess. It wasn't Chad's fault that any of this had happened and yet he was getting the brunt of the fall out having to go between Troy and Taylor and Gabriella.

He thought back to the conversation he had had with his best friend the day after the event. Chad had stopped by to check on him.

"_How ya holding up, Captain?"_

"_What are you doing here, Chad?"_

"_I came to see how you were holding up."_

"_Does your girlfriend know you're here?"_

_Chad chuckled and sat down on Troy's bed. "Yes, she does. She isn't heartless, Troy."_

"_I didn't say she was. It's just that I thought with everything that went down yesterday I wouldn't see you for awhile."_

"_You're my_ best friend_, Troy Bolton. No girl will ever come between us. Taylor gets that. She's never had a best friend, a real one, but Gabriella is really close to becoming her best friend, dude. She gets that while I'm not happy with how you handled things that I need to be there for you. And be your best friend."_

And Chad had been. Troy had spent more time with his best friend in the last two weeks than he had in months. They had spent hours playing basketball in his backyard and video games. They had even made much needed repairs to the tree house in Troy's backyard.

While he appreciated Chad's support and companionship, there were times Troy wished his best friend would just leave him alone and let him wallow in self-pity. It had taken him all of five minutes after Gabriella found out the hickie for him to realize that he had just lost the best thing that had ever happened to him and he had no one to blame except himself.

Every time he saw Gabriella in the hall, she would avoid his eyes as they passed or she would turn around and walk the direction she had just come. He was left with the want to talk to her, to hold her, to kiss her. But she would never allow it and he couldn't blame her.

When Homecoming Court nominations were collected, Troy informed his fellow leadership students that he did not want to be nominated and to throw out any piece of paper that had his name on it. When the finalists were picked, Chad's name was among them.

Glancing at the clock on his TV as he setup his Xbox, Troy saw that it was nearly six o'clock. Chad was probably dressed up in a tux and eating dinner with Taylor at a restaurant of her picking. Or so he thought until his door swung open and his curly haired friend walked into the room.

"Get up."

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be eating dinner with Taylor?"

"We're meeting her at the dance." Chad opened Troy's closet and began digging through it in search of the suit he knew Troy had.

"What do you mean _we_?"

"We're going to Homecoming."

"I'm not going to Homecoming."

"Yes, you are." Finding the suit, Chad pulled it out and tossed it on Troy's bed. "Get dressed. _Now_."

"What part of I'm _NOT_ going do you not understand?"

"The _not_ part."

"What is so important that I have to be there for?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that me, your most loyal best friend could be named Homecoming King. Or, I don't know, the fact that Taylor convinced Gabriella to go to the dance."

"Gabriella's going?"

Chad nodded.

"But she _hates_ dances…" He sighed. "…almost as much as she hates _me_."

"Yeah, well Taylor hates dances, too, but Gabriella was nagging on her to be more supportive of my extracurricular activities. So Taylor told her if she was going to the dance then so was Gabriella."

"And this translates into me going how?? Don't you think your night will be ruined if Taylor finds out you made me come tonight?"

"Probably, if this all wasn't her idea."

"Say what?"

"Taylor and I talked decided you and Gabriella need a second chance and here it is."

"She'll bolt the second she sees me."

Chad put his hand on Troy's forehead.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking to see if you have a fever, because you seem to have caught a case of the I'm-a-big-freakin'-pansy bug!"

"I. am. not. a.. pansy."

"Prove it, get dressed and go to the dance."

"Why, Chad? Tell me one good reason why I should go to that dance."

"Because you love Gabriella."

Troy looked at his friend's serious face then at the suit lying on his bed.

"Give me ten minutes."

Chad threw a fist pump into the air and shot a text message off to Taylor.

Fifteen minutes later, Chad and Troy entered the gym lobby. They were a little early since Chad and the rest of the Homecoming Court had to meet before the dance.

"Tell her how you feel." Chad patted Troy on the back before he headed into the gym.

Troy sighed and sat down on the steps to the gym. Chad made the idea of telling Gabriella that he loved her so easy, but Troy knew it wouldn't be.

"Troy?"

He looked up and bit his tongue from groaning out loud when he saw Sharpay standing in front of him. A Homecoming Queen nominee, she was dressed in a bright pink, knee length, halter dress and her hair was pulled back in such a fashion that Troy could only imagine had taken hours.

"Hi Sharpay."

"I didn't think you were going to come tonight."

"Chad made me."

"Look, Troy, I've been meaning to call and talk to you."

"About what?"

She brought her silver purse to her chest and took a deep breath. "I miss you, Troy. We were really good together and I want you to know that I forgive you for cheating on me."

As the lobby's door opened, Troy felt his face being pulled in that direction by an imaginary string. His breath caught in his throat and he forgot all about Sharpay standing next to him when he saw Gabriella enter dressed in a floor length red dress, her dark locks curled.

As if she felt his eyes on her, she looked up and met his briefly before she closed her eyes and turned to talk to Taylor. It wasn't until Taylor shot a glare in his direction that he remembered Sharpay was next to him. _Shit._

"Gabriella! Wait!"

-----

Gabriella sighed as she entered a dressing room in the mall for what had to be the tenth time. She still couldn't believe Taylor had convinced, no, guilt tripped, her to attend to the stupid Homecoming dance. A school dance was the last place she wanted to be, especially after everything that happened with Troy.

"How does that one fit?"

Taylor's voice echoing over the door reminded Gabriella of their current mission: finding her a dress. Taylor had been lucky and found a dress in the first shop they had gone to a week ago and Gabriella was still looking.

"I don't think purple is my color, Taylor."

"Just try it on, Gabs, then we'll dissect it and figure out what type of dress is best for you."

Gabriella sighed and pulled put the dress on. She looked at herself in the mirror and had to admit the V-neck cut dress looked good on her. Best news of all was that it wouldn't need to be altered in anyway, which was great news since the dance was tonight.

"Come on, Gabs, lemme see."

With a sigh, Gabriella opened the door and stepped out.

"Oh my god, Gabs, that dress is gorgeous on you!"

"I know, but I don't like the color…maybe if it came in red."

"It does." The sales woman stationed in the changing room area smiled. "Would you like me to get one for you?"

"Yes please." Taylor smiled. "Now turn around, Gabs, lemme check out the dress."

Gabriella sighed and turned slowly for Taylor to get a full look.

"It's beautiful, Gabs."

"You're in luck, Miss, this is the last one." The sales lady handed Gabriella the red dress.

"Try it on, Gabs."

Gabriella stepped back into the changing room and changed into the red dress. Her breath got caught in her throat when she looked in the mirror. This was it. This was really her dress.

"Come on, Gabs! I wanna see."

Gabriella smiled at her friend's whining and opened the door.

"Oh. My. God. Gabs, you look beautiful!"

"Thanks, Tay."

"Go get changed, we have a lot to do before the dance tonight."

After purchasing the dress, they headed to Taylor's house where her sister was waiting to do their hair and makeup. Being an only child, Gabriella smiled and listened in amusement as Taylor and her sister bantered back and forth.

"You two should put your dresses on before I do your makeup."

"Alright, come on Gabs."

They went upstairs and Gabriella put on her dress while Taylor put on her floor length, sateen, sapphire blue dress.

"You're going to knock Chad off his feet."

"Thanks." Taylor giggled and she led Gabriella back downstairs where her sister did their makeup.

An hour later, they were sitting in Taylor's car on the way to the dance when she got Chad's text message.

"Gabs, I need to tell you something."

"Tell me what?"

"Troy might be there tonight."

"Excuse me? You said he wasn't coming."

"I lied…"

"TAYLOR!"

"I know, it was very dishonest of me, but Chad and I know you two need a second chance, and well, this is it."

"Turn the car around."

"No, Gabs, come on. You got a new dress and you got all dolled up. If you don't want to see Troy, I'll tell Chad and he'll tell Troy to stay away."

"Why, Taylor? Why did you do this?"

"Because I know you love him and you'd always wonder what if."

Gabriella was silent for several minutes. "I'll talk if he talks first, but I'm not going to try if he isn't willing."

"That's all I ask."

Taylor smiled at her friend and they soon parked in the school's parking lot.

"Why are we here so early?"

"I have to make sure Chad is dressed appropriately." Taylor smiled then climbed out of the car. She slipped her arm through Gabriella's and they made their way to the gym. She saw Troy standing in the lobby talking to Sharpay and wanted to curse out loud, instead, she distracted Gabriella, hoping Sharpay would disappear before Gabriella saw her.

But her plan failed and she saw the pain cross Gabriella's face, so much for a second chance.

"Take me home."

"Gabs, come-"

"Take. Me. Home. Now."

Taylor nodded and shot a glare in Troy's direction before she placed her hand Gabriella's back.

"Gabriella! Wait!"

Taylor looked at her friend then glanced over her shoulder at Troy. She stopped walking and grabbed Gabriella's arm.

"Let's go, Taylor."

"No, Gabs. You said if he talked first, you'd talk back."

"Taylor, please."

Taylor hated seeing her friend cry, but shook her head as Troy reached them. Spotting Chad come out of the gym, she moved to greet him and give Troy and Gabriella a chance to be alone.

"I didn't come with Sharpay, Gabriella. You have to believe me."

"Why should I believe that Troy?" Gabriella's eyes were full of tears. "Everything you've said to me has been a lie."

"Not everything. I told you things that Chad doesn't even know."

"I fail to see how you taking ballet lessons in elementary school makes up for the fact that you _lied_ to me about having a girlfriend, Troy."

"I messed up, ok? But in the process I realized what matters to me the most." He reached out to cup her chin but she turned away. He sighed and walked over to Sharpay.

"Troy, don't do this." Chad started to move towards his best friend but Taylor grabbed his shoulder.

"Sharpay, I have been trying since last Spring to break up with you. I haven't been happy for a really long time and I don't want to spend another six months pretending I'm happy."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that no, I won't get back together with you. You deserve a guy that can love you and I'm not that guy."

"Are you in love with _her_?" Sharpay looked from his face to Gabriella's.

"Yes. Yes, I am." Troy turned and headed back over to Gabriella. "Gabriella Montez, my _Waterbug_, I love you and I have since the moment I laid eyes on you."

"Oh puke!" Sharpay stomped up the stairs, pushing Chad and Taylor out of her way, and into the gym.

"Please say you'll give me another chance, Gabriella. Let me show you who Troy Bolton really is."

"Come on, Gabs, say something!" Chad grabbed Taylor's hand and pulled her into the gym.

"Please, Gabriella."

She nodded slowly. "On one, no two, conditions."

"Anything."

"No more secret girlfriends and no more burning my letters."

"Deal."

"I love you, Troy Bolton."

Troy smiled and cupped her chin as he lowered his lips to hers. This was how it was supposed to be. It was like he had carved into a tree at camp. _Wildcat + Waterbug = Love_.

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Author's note: My plan is to post the epilogue after Christmas but before New Years Eve. It'll really depend on how quickly I get it written and if my editor is around to take a look over it for me.


	13. Epilogue

Well this version of Troy and Gabriella (and Taylor and Chad)'s story is over... hard to believe I've finished the story. Anyway, I hope you all had a great Christmas and I wish you all a very happy 2009. (pst... check out the sneak peak at the end of this chapter for my new story)

Thanks to LaurFoSho, shootingforthestars, Midnight113, daydreamer299, Drwho992, mummy b, quitarqueen06 and ..Seraphina.x. for reviewing the last chapter.

And a HUGE (about the size of the whole international HSM franchise) thank you to the follow people who reviewed this story while I wrote it: **..Seraphina.x. (x6)**, bellatrixvssirius, bluebirdy07, bronzedbeautyholic (x2), chelle2911 (x4), Cheznut2 (x3), cornique chaylor girl, **daydreamer299 (x5)**, Drwho992 (x2), HERFACE, HSMLoverAlways, JennCorinthos (x3), Jezebel Montgomery, Justletmebreathe3003, Kahuna-Sama, Kisha84, LaurFoSho, LexiconLust, **lilmissmonique (x10)**, .lov3 (x2), lol925, Lolly-xx, Magicseeker101 (x2), maurie1297 (x3), Merebelle14084, Midnight113 (x3), mishyB (x3), mummy b (x2), MUW D'Bellegirl (x4), naughtycate (x3), Princesssam411, quitarqueen06 (x2), ScRuPuLoUs (x3), seeleyswifey, shalalax3, shootingforthestars (x4), someonelikeyou10 (x3), starBURST-xo (x2), StephiieeBaybiiee-soo gangstah, teresa995, topspin320, **zanessa4evr12 (x5)**, zanessalov3r, ZanessaLuvsTroyella (x2) and zanessatroyella4evr620 (x3)

P.S. You guys might recognize the very last part ;)

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**Epilogue**

Letting his eyes wander from the road in front of him, Troy Bolton looked at Gabriella, his beautiful wife of twenty-years. She caught his look and took his hand as he drove with the other. He winked at her before turning his eyes back to the road in front of him. They were headed to the place they had met 25 years ago as summer camp counselors.

The last time he and Gabriella had been at the camp had been the summer after graduating high school. They and their best friends Chad and Taylor (McKessie) Danforth had spent their summer together working at the came before going off to opposite sides of the country for college.

Troy and Gabriella had moved to California to attend University of California-Davis. Gabriella studied Veterinary Medicine and he went through the College of Education earning a double degree in History and PE.

Troy and Gabriella had married four years after high school with Chad and Taylor flying out to serve as bestman and matron-of-honor. Two years later, they welcomed their daughter Isabella. She was the light of their lives and her mother's twin except for her blue eyes.

Looking in the rearview mirror, Troy saw his 18-year-old baby girl bobbing her head to whatever song she was listening to. He wanted to tell her how important this place was to their family, but he knew she already knew it. He and Gabriella had told their daughter of the place they had met at least a thousand times and now they were taking her there to work for the summer.

Across the country, Chad and Taylor had settled in New Haven, Connecticut to attend Yale. She majored in Political Science then went to Law School while he majored in Literature. Being so far from their families, they had barely made it through their freshman year of college before deciding to get married before they went back for sophomore year. A surprise pregnancy came in the months between Taylor finishing her bachelor degree and starting law school.

Thinking of his best friend brought a smile to Troy's face and an ache to his heart. It had been nearly four years since he had last seen his best friend. They exchanged emails occasionally, but between him coaching the girls' varsity basketball team at the high school he worked at and Chad busy writing books and taking care of his and Taylor's brood of children, there wasn't a lot of time.

The last time he had seen Chad and Taylor had been when he and Gabriella had flown out to New York City to meet their friends for dinner and to sign paperwork granting Chad to use the story of how they met and the events that followed for a novel he was working on. The novel had become one of Chad's most popular books and Troy couldn't be happier for his best friend.

"It's the next left."

Gabriella's voice broke into Troy's thoughts.

"I know."

She smiled and leaned back in her seat.

It surprised him how calm she was about this whole adventure. The camp was only a stop on their journey. They would drop Isa off at the camp, make sure she got settled then they would head to Albuquerque, New Mexico. They had sold her veterinary practice and he had left his job at the high school to move home to take care of his ailing parents.

"Troy, turn left."

He shook his head and flicked on his blinker. He waited for the oncoming traffic to pass before he pulled onto the paved driveway that led to the camp.

"It looks just like I remember." Gabriella watched in awe as he drove past groves of trees.

"Are you sure there is something out here?" His daughter's question made Troy laugh.

"I promise there is."

No sooner had he said that, a rustic cabin came into view. A few minutes later, Troy stopped the car and turned it off.

Climbing out of the car, Troy met Gabriella at the front and together they surveyed the area they could see.

A familiar head of hair caught Troy's eye and without thinking he called out to the person. "Chad!"

The person underneath the hair stopped and turned around. Spotting Troy, Gabriella and Isa, he headed in their direction. As he got closer it was clear that he wasn't Chad.

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were somebody else." Troy shifted uncomfortably.

"Don't worry, it happens all the time." The man smiled. "My mom says it's because my hair looks just like my dad's. I'm Chaz by the way."

"Troy Bolton. My wife Gabriella and my daughter Isa."

"Troy Bolton? I should have known." Chaz shook his head. "My dad has been talking non-stop about you possibly stopping by."

"Your dad?"

"Chad Danforth." Chaz rubbed his curly afro. "I thought for sure the hair would give it away."

"You're Chad and Taylor's boy?" Gabriella smiled at him. "The last time we saw you, you were 8 or 9."

"What are your parents doing these days?"

Before Chaz had a chance to answer, the front door of the cabin opened and there was a yell. "GABRIELLA?!"

Gabriella grinned widely as she spotted Taylor hurrying down the steps towards them.

Troy spotted Chad hurrying out of the house a minute later with kids following. The two friends embraced.

Chaz shook his head at his parents' antics and walked over to Isa. "You want a tour of the camp?"

"Sure."

Chaz smiled and took her hand, leading her away from their parents and his younger siblings.

"What are you guys doing here?" Gabriella gave Chad a hug while Taylor and Troy hugged.

"We were ready to get away from New England and we saw that this place was for sale. So we bought it."

"Wait, you guys own the camp?" Troy looked from Chad to Taylor.

"Yup." Chad felt someone tug on his jacket and smiled when he saw his youngest son. He knelt down and his son whispered in his ear. "Excuse me, Caleb." He smiled. "Troy and Gabriella, this is our youngest son Caleb."

"It's nice to meet you, Caleb." Gabriella smiled. "How old are you?"

"I'm six." Caleb grinned. "That's Riley, she's 16." He pointed at his older sister then at his brother. "And that's Caden, he's 12." He looked around for Chaz. "Daddy, where's Chaz?"

"I don't know."

That's when Troy realized Isa was gone as well.

"He's probably giving her a tour of the grounds." Taylor smiled. "He loves it here." She ruffled Caleb's hair.

"Dad, did you tell them about the movie?" Riley suddenly appeared at Chad's side.

"Movie, what movie?" Gabriella looked at Chad.

"Somebody bought the rights to my book about us all and they want to make a movie of it."

"Who?" Troy knew the book was popular but didn't think that anybody would want to make a movie of it.

"East High's Hollywood Starlet, Sharpay Evans."

"Seriously?" Troy couldn't help but drop his jaw. "She does remember that she was the antagonist right?"

"No more of an antagonist then you were." Chad grinned, but nodded. "I got her permission to write the novel as well and part of the contract was that I would let her read the novel before it went to print so she could have a final say about what was put in there about her. She sent it back unmarked and told me that she wanted to make of movie out of it."

"That's incredible." Gabriella smiled.

"Aunt Sharpay said she would get me a dress for the premiere." Riley beamed.

"Aunt Sharpay?" Troy looked at Chad.

"We bought the camp a year or so ago and she's been using it as her getaway place. She and Riley have developed quite a bond."

"Mom, when's dinner?"

Taylor looked at her watch and sighed. "Guess I should get started on that. Would you guys like to stay for dinner? We're not expecting any more counselors until tomorrow."

"It's fine with me." Gabriella looked at Troy and he nodded. "I'll help you with dinner, Taylor."

An hour later, the two families sat down at the table and enjoyed the meal Taylor and Gabriella had made.

Sitting across from his daughter, Troy couldn't help but notice how she kept stealing glances at Chaz or how Chaz kept glancing at her. He looked over at Chad and knew his friend had seen what was happening as well.

"So Chaz, what are you doing these days?" If the boy was interested in his daughter, Troy wanted to know everything there was to know.

"I'm attending Arizona State University on a full basketball scholarship, I'll be a junior this year."

"Get out! _I'm_ going there on a full basketball scholarship." Troy noticed how a smile crossed Isa's face. "But I'll only be a freshman."

"I'm sure Chaz would be honored to show you around campus." Taylor smiled, having picked up on the fact that her son was crushing on Isa.

"Mom." Chaz felt his face heat up.

"Tay, let the boy ask her out himself." Chad grinned.

After dinner, Chad and Taylor shooed Troy and Gabriella on the house.

"Go for a walk. Relive the memories."

Taking her hand in his, Troy and Gabriella walked around the camp visiting their favorite spots: the boat house by the lake, the basketball court, the crafts building and the mess hall.

As they were leaving the mess hall it started to rain. Troy smiled and hurried off the porch and started to spin around in the rain.

"You're crazy Wildcat." Gabriella watched from her spot underneath the covered porch.

"Join me." He stopped spinning and his blue eyes met hers with a look of sincerity.

"We'll get soaked."

"So? Unless you're a waterbug that doesn't like water…"

She cautiously took a step into the rain and pushed her hair back out of her face as the rain pounded down on her. He smiled and held out his hand to her. She took it and squealed with laughter when he spun her into his arms so they were standing eye to eye. He made the first move and their lips crashed against each other as they danced in the rain.

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As promised here is a sneak peek at my newest story **Revenge** that I will begin posting **January 1, 2009**.

**Summary: **In high school, Ryan Evans was the West High Knight's mascot and was beaten up three times by the East High Basketball team, specifically Troy Bolton. Now they're in college at the University of Albuquerque and Troy is dating beautiful Gabriella Montez from San Diego, California. Wanting to get revenge on Troy, Ryan pretends to be gay and moves in with Gabriella and her roommate Taylor McKessie from Tempe, Arizona who's dating Chad Danforth. Will Ryan's revenge work or will his sister's secret relationship with Chad throw it off? Troyella, Chaylor, Chadpay

And here's the sneak peek

_"Hey Ryan, come on in." She stepped aside and let the tall, lanky guy dressed in white shorts, a pink polo shirt, white slip on loafers and a fedora hat into the apartment._

"Thanks again for letting me stay here," Ryan smiled brightly. He nudged her playfully. "Who're the hotties?"

"They're taken," Gabriella giggled. "That's Troy, he's my boyfriend and the one with the crazy hair is Chad, Taylor's boyfriend."

"Nice to meet you," Ryan smiled at them. "Where can I put my stuff?"

"Oh! Come on I'll show you to your room," Gabriella smiled, slipping her arm through his. "Taylor why don't you grab the lease information and meet us back here."

"What did Ryan say his last name was?" Chad asked once the girls and Ryan were out of earshot.

"He didn't say," Troy stated. "Why?"

"He just looks familiar," Chad shrugged. "I feel like I should know who he is, but I can't put my finger on it."

I'm going to go up a trailer up for it in a few seconds so be sure to add it to your alert lists if you're interested!!!


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